Narratives of Silence, Resilience, and Resistance: Banu Mushtaq’s Heart Lamp: Selected Stories

Abstract

Banu Mushtaq’s Heart Lamp: Selected Stories by Banu Mushtaq is a compilation of uncomplicated stories that explore complex situations in modern society. The women in the stories of Banu do not want to be considered as victims of their situations. They represent a form of resistance that is not necessarily vocal, yet it is transformative through their silent yet strong actions. The article, entitled "Narratives of Silence, Resilience, Resistance: Banu Mushtaq’s Heart Lamp: Selected Stories," exposes the intricacies of silence, resilience, and resistance within the lives of women who are too often unheard, unacknowledged, and invisible.  Banu presents the picture of women who are oppressed, but who never cease to fight to find their place in the world; it is not a dramatic uprising, but a chain of minor, but essential rebellions, which undermine the basis of patriarchal power; women who do not wait for someone to help them. They create their lines of resistance instead, and at times within the lines drawn around them, and at times by refusing to recognize the lines at all. By their experiences, Banu criticizes the intersections of patriarchy, caste, and religion that seek to silence and marginalize women. This article examines storytelling as a form of resistance. These chosen narratives are a testimony to the strength of women who, even when society shuts them up, keep fighting back and survive, thus dictating their survival and empowerment stories. It also examines how the stories of Banu, despite being based on specific local cultures, indicate the universal state of gender-based subordination and feminist insistence.