Reading The Half Mother as Political Narrative: Repression, Subjectivity, and State Power through the Eyes of the EFL Learner

Authors

  • Shamim Akhter

    Faculty of Education & Liberal Arts (FELA), INTI International University, Nilai 71800, Malaysia
  • Tribhuwan Kumar

    Department of English Language and Literature, College of Science and Humanities at Sulail, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia

    Department of English, Saveetha School of Engineering, Chennai 602105, India
  • Walton Wider

    Faculty of Business and Communications, INTI International University, Nilai 71800, Malaysia
  • Musarat Shaheen

    Department of Social Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i9.9638
Received: 22 April 2025 | Revised: 16 May 2025 | Accepted: 12 June 2025 | Published Online: 2 September 2025

Abstract

This research engages with the theoretical frameworks of Louis Althusser's concepts of Ideological and Repressive State Apparatuses, applying them to Shehnaz Bashir's poignant debut novel, The Half Mother (2014). The study explores how the state manipulates institutions such as religion, politics, education, and media to perpetuate its dominant ideology and internalize official narratives within the collective consciousness of its citizens. In parallel, it examines the role of repressive state mechanisms—including the army, police, and judiciary—in enforcing conformity, suppressing dissent, and executing state-sponsored violence. The novel, set in the politically volatile region of Kashmir, offers a compelling literary lens through which the intersections of ideology, repression, and resistance are vividly portrayed. The research closely analyzes the psychological and emotional responses of various characters, revealing the covert mechanisms by which control and obedience are sustained. Additionally, this study integrates the pedagogical perspective by incorporating the responses of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners. It highlights how exposure to politically and socially charged literary texts, such as The Half Mother, cultivates critical thinking, socio-political consciousness, and interpretive competence. By engaging with the text's complex themes, learners not only enhance their linguistic proficiency but also develop a deeper understanding of power dynamics. Thus, the research contributes to both political-literary scholarship and innovative approaches in literature-based language education.

Keywords:

State Apparatuses; Violence; Repression; Ideology; EFL Learner; Learning Opportunities; Developing Countries; Education Quality

References

[1] De Tracy, A.L.C., 1977. A Treatise on Political Economy. Arno Press: New York, NY, USA.

[2] Marx, K., Engels, F., 1932. The German Ideology. International Publishers: New York, NY, USA.

[3] Gramsci, A., 1990. Cultural hegemony. In: Gerratana, V. (ed.). The Prison Notebooks. Available from: http://abahlali.org/files/gramsci (cited 5 November 2024).

[4] Gramsci, A., 1971. Selections from the Prison Notebooks. International Publishers: New York, NY, USA.

[5] Althusser, L., 1971. Ideology and ideological state apparatuses. In: Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. Monthly Review Press: New York, NY, USA. pp. 127–186.

[6] Peake, G., 2003. Beloved Land: Stories, Struggles, and Secrets from Timor-Leste. Bloomsbury: New York, NY, USA.

[7] Bovingdon, G., 2010. The Uyghurs: Strangers in Their Own Land. Columbia University Press: New York, NY, USA.

[8] Marcus, A., 2007. Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence. NYU Press: New York, NY, USA.

[9] Wade, F., 2017. Myanmar's Enemy Within: Buddhist Violence and the Making of a Muslim ‘Other'. Zed Books: London, UK.

[10] Bose, S., 2003. Kashmir: Roots of conflict, paths to peace. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MY, USA.

[11] Khan, G.D.Q., 2015. Cheegha: The Call from Waziristan, the Last Outpost. Paramount Books: Karachi, Pakistan.

[12] Subramanian, S., 2015. This Divided Island: Life, Death, and the Sri Lankan War. Penguin Books: Gurgaon, India.

[13] Kammen, D., 2015. Three Centuries of Conflict in East Timor. Rutgers University Press: New Brunswick, NJ, USA.

[14] Weiss, G., 2011. The Cage: The Fight for Sri Lanka and the Last Days of the Tamil Tigers. Bodley Head: London, UK.

[15] Ibrahim, F., Gulbey, G., 2000. The Kurdish Conflict in Turkey: Obstacles and Chances for Peace and Democracy. LIT Verlag Münster: Münster, Germany.

[16] Israeli, R., 2002. Islam in China: Religion, Ethnicity, Culture, and Politics. Lexington Books: Lanham, MD, USA.

[17] Peer, B., 2008. Curfewed Night. Penguin Random House: New Delhi, India.

[18] Bhutto, F., 2014. The Shadow of the Crescent Moon. Penguin Press: New York, NY, USA.

[19] Dar, B.A., 2016. Kashmiri women: Symbols of pain, trauma, and resistance. International Journal of Kashmir Studies. 2(1), 45–60.

[20] Rather, M.A., 2016. State-sponsored violence and the plight of Kashmiri women: A study of The Half Mother. International Journal of English Language, Literature and Humanities. 4(7), 90–98.

[21] Raina, J.A., 2017. Trauma and misfortune in Basharat Peer's The Half Mother. International Journal of English Language, Literature in Humanities. 5(1), 1–10.

[22] Pandit, Y., 2016. The suffering and struggle of a mother (Haleema) for her disappeared son (Imran) – In Shahnaz Bashir's The Half Mother. International Journal of English Language, Literature and Translation Studies. 4(4), 45–49. Available from: http://www.ijelr.in/4.4.17/45-49%20MOHAMMAD%20YASEEN%20PANDITH.pdf

[23] Pandit Mohmad, J., 2018. Chronicle of pain: The Half Mother through resistance discourse. Research Journal of English Language Literature. 6(4), 320–325. Available from: http://www.rjelal.com/6.4.18/320-325%20JAN%20MOHAMD%20PANDIT.pdf

[24] Shameem, B., 2018. The devastating effects of Indian occupation on human capital and economic progress in Kashmir: A study of state suppression and marginalization of women. Journal of South Asian Studies. 10(1), 1–15.

[25] Rather, M.N., 2017. Trauma, stress, and reproductive health issues among Kashmiri women: A literary perspective. Kashmir Journal of Social Sciences. 5(2), 115–125.

[26] Bashir, S., 2014. The Half Mother. Hachette India: Gurgaon, India.

[27] Bashir, Q., 2016. Conflict literature from Kashmir: A study of Curfewed Night and The Half Mother. The Criterion: An International Journal in English. 7(1), 146–153. Available from: http://www.the-criterion.com/V7/n1/020.pdf

[28] Jain, U., Chopan, F., 2015. Psychic trauma of a bereaved mother: A study of Shahnaz Bashir's The Half Mother. International Journal of English Language, Literature and Humanities. 3(1), 157–163. Available from: http://ijellh.com/OJS/index.php/OJS/article/view/273/273

[29] Kumar, T., 2020. Representation of Victorian society in the poetry of Mary Howitt. Utopía y Praxis Latinoamericana. 25(12), 215–221. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4280128

[30] Jabeen, T., Kumar, T., Yunus, M.M., 2022. Fathers, daughters, and domesticity in the early novels of George Eliot. SAGE Open. 12(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221113821

[31] Kumar, T., 2021. A linguistic analysis of Robert Browning's The Grammarian's Funeral: Exploring the language of literature through the formulaic style. Asian EFL Journal. 28(1.3), 225–240.

[32] Kumar, T., Musabal, A., AbdAlgane, M., et al., 2022. The impact of social class on speech and speech inventiveness in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. World Journal of English Language. 12(7), 328–334. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5430/wjel.v12n7p328

[33] Priyadharshini, P., Kumar, T., 2024. Unveiling the power of liberal feminism in Namita Gokhale's selected works: A journey towards gender inclusivity. Theory and Practice in Language Studies. 14(2), 485–490. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1402.20

[34] Auyero, J., Sobering, K., Fernández, J., 2020. The ambiguity of violence: Slow violence, bureaucratic domination, and marginality in urban Latin America. Current Sociology. 68(4), 483–502. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392119884926

[35] Khalili, L., 2021. Sinews of War and Trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula. Verso Books: London, UK.

[36] Boswell, T.E., Kiser, E.V.,Baker, K.A., et al., 1999. Recent developments in Marxist theories of ideology. SADE Journals. 23(4), 253. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205990250022301

[37] Inglehart, R., Norris, P., 2023. Cultural backlash revisited: Identity, values, and populist authoritarianism. International Political Science Review. 44(1), 5–23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/01925121221106598

[38] Tufekci, Z., 2018. Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest. Yale University Press: New Haven, CT, USA.

[39] Gay, L.R., 2012. Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applications, 10th ed. Pearson: Boston, MA, USA.

[40] Huang, C., Boranbay-Akan, S., 2022. Ideological indoctrination in the digital era: Surveillance, control, and consent in China and Kazakhstan. Journal of Comparative Politics. 54(1), 112–135.

[41] Barjestesh, H., Vijayaratham, P., Sabzevari, M., et al., 2025. Digital Literacy of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Teachers: Teaching Experience in Focus. Forum for Linguistic Studies. 7(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i1.7244

Downloads

How to Cite

Akhter, S., Kumar, T., Wider, W., & Shaheen, M. (2025). Reading The Half Mother as Political Narrative: Repression, Subjectivity, and State Power through the Eyes of the EFL Learner. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(9), 220–235. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i9.9638

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 9 (September 2025): In progress

Article Type

Article

License

Copyright © 2025 Shamim Akhter, Tribhuwan Kumar, Walton Wider, Musarat Shaheen

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.