Cultural Duality, Political Betrayal, and Burden of History in Kamila Shamsie’s Novel Kartography

Abstract

This article examines Kamila Shamsie’s Kartography (2002) through three interconnected themes: cultural duality, political betrayal, and the burden of history. Drawing on the postcolonial perspectives of Homi K. Bhabha, W. E. B. Du Bois, Edward Said, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and Frantz Fanon, the study explores how these themes shape the identities and relationships of the novel’s protagonists, Karim and Raheen, within the complex sociopolitical landscape of Karachi. The article argues that cultural duality in Kartography is not a condition that can be easily resolved but an enduring reality produced by colonial legacies, ethnic divisions, migration, and competing cultural affiliations. The novel’s representation of political betrayal extends beyond the national and political sphere into family relationships and individual consciousness, revealing how political conflicts and unspoken grievances are transmitted across generations. Furthermore, the article examines the burden of history, particularly the unresolved legacy of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, as a force that continues to shape the lives of characters who did not directly experience the events. The metaphor of the map in the novel’s title is therefore significant not merely as an aesthetic device but as a representation of the ways in which space, identity, belonging, and national history are constructed and contested. Ultimately, Kartography demonstrates how personal identities and familial relationships remain deeply entangled with the political divisions and historical memories of the nation.