Volume V Issue III July-September 2025

Name of Author : Mr. Hussain Basha G

Title of the paper : Rewriting Colonial Narratives: Resistance and Subversion in Ahdaf Soueifs The Map of Love

Abstract: Ahdaf Soueifs The Map of Love 1999 deconstructs colonial narratives through a palimpsestic structure overlaying late 19th century Egyptian resistance with 1990s reflections, reclaiming subaltern agency via memory, cross cultural romance, and artistic expression. Inspired by Edward Saids contrapuntal reading and Orientalist vision critique, the novel parallels British artist Anna Winterbournes union with nationalist Sharif al Baroudi against American Isabel Parkmans friendship with Egyptian Amal al Ghamrawi. Soueif unveils imperial atrocities like the Omdurman Massacre 1898 and Denshwai Incident 1906, while linking them to post-colonial issues such as Infitah era neoliberalism and Luxor attack repercussions 1997. Womens subversive practices, including Annas hybrid tapestry and Amals archival narration, cultivate transnational solidarities challenging patriarchal imperialism and neocolonial continuities. This study demonstrates how Soueif elevates historical fiction into a resistance archive, supplanting rigid Orientalist cartographies with dynamic, relational narratives of hybrid emergence.

Keywords : postcolonial resistance, Orientalism, contrapuntal narrative, hybridity, gender subversion, Egyptian nationalism, palimpsest.

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Page No. : 31-36