Representation of queerness in Ismat Chughtai’s Lihaaf

Abstract

The term queer carries an uncanny feeling with itself as it attributes to those people whose sexual orientations come outside of the mainstream heterosexual society. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people fall under the umbrella of queer whose existence is neglected since time immemorial in a heteronormative society. The aim of this article is to evaluate the queer identity, its growth, the struggle queer people have gone through over the ages till the emergence of queer movement in late twenties in the context of gays in United States . Besides it also prioritizes the portrayal of queer people in Indian Literature and its acceptance by giving prime importance to Ismat Chughtai’s infamous short story Lihaaf. The homoerotic nature of its female protagonist Begum Jan and her husband Nawab Saheb is clearly seen throughout the story which makes the story controversial.