Obedience and Resistance: Psychological Dimensions of Political Authority in Postcolonial English Literature

Soham chaudhary; Sachna Arora

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.64146

Obedience and Resistance: Psychological Dimensions of Political Authority in Postcolonial English Literature

Author(s)	Dr. Soham chaudhary, Dr. Sachna Arora
Country	India
Abstract	In this paper, the question is explored into how individuals think, feel and consider when they have to approach political authority in the postcolonial English literature covering Partition. The article explores the psychological processes of obedience and opposition to political power in English postcolonial literature about the Partition of India. Using the political psychology and the analysis of a literature the study examines how, in times of extreme political violence, individuals balance moral conscience, fear, and group pressure. As a focal example, the paper examines the conflict of non-violence and revolutionary struggle of Gandhian thought and principle using A Bend in the Ganges (1964) by Manohar Malgonkar, and the characters of Gian and Debi. The theoretical framework combines the theory of obedience by Stanley Milgram (1974), studies on conformity by Solomon Asch, and theory of large-group identity by Vamik Volkan (2001) to explain how political behaviour of individuals are influenced by those in authority, and group norms and collective identity. The qualitative textual analysis and close reading followed in the paper is methodologically based on the interdisciplinary political-psychological approach. According to it, Partition literature serves as a psychological memory that documents the emergence of obedience, conformity and resistance in response to the pressure of nationalism, violence and moral crisis. By placing A Bend in the Ganges into more general discourses of political psychology and postcolonial studies, the article can be added to an interdisciplinary reading of the agency, authority, and ethical dilemma during the times of historical discontinuity.
Keywords	Partition literature; political authority; obedience; resistance; political psychology; postcolonial studies
Field	Sociology > Linguistic / Literature
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 6, November-December 2025
Published On	2025-12-28
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.64146

View / Download PDF File

E-ISSN 2582-2160

doi

CrossRef DOI is assigned to each research paper published in our journal.

IJFMR DOI prefix is
10.36948/ijfmr

Downloads

Research Paper Format Copyright Permission Form and Undertaking Form Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 2 Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 1 Cover Page Vol 7 Isu 6

All research papers published on this website are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, and all rights belong to their respective authors/researchers.

CC-BY-SA

About IJFMR Fees & Payment Current Issue Publication Archive	Submit Research Paper Track Submission Status Publication Guidelines Publication Ethics Peer Review & Plagiarism	Join as a Reviewer Editors & Reviewers Reviewer Referral Program Get Reviewer Membership Certi.	Website/Journal Policies Usage Policy Content Policies Privacy Policy

Contact Us		+91-9687-828-838	editor@ijfmr.com

International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

Obedience and Resistance: Psychological Dimensions of Political Authority in Postcolonial English Literature

Share this