Volume VI Special Issue I January 2026

Name of Author : Khushpreet Kaur

Title of the paper : The Psyche as Prism: The Impact of Self on Mantos and Duggals Literary Worlds

Abstract: This research explores the intricate interplay between psychology and history in the works of Saadat Hasan Manto and Kartar Singh Duggal, two of the most compelling literary voices to emerge from the Partition of India. Through a psychoanalytic literary framework, grounded in Freuds theories of repression, sublimation, melancholia, and creative neurosis, the paper examines how both authors transform personal and collective trauma into powerful narratives. Mantos writings are marked by psychic fragmentation, madness, and rebellion, which manifest in his stark realism and grotesque irony, exposing the raw, irrational underside of Partitions human cost. In contrast, Duggals balanced psychological disposition allows him to process trauma through emotional restraint, nostalgic reflection, and moral clarity, turning fiction into a space of healing and reconstruction. The study argues that while their artistic temperaments diverge Manto embodying disruption and Duggal integration their works converge in their function as psychological instruments. Both use storytelling as a means to sublimate unbearable internal conflicts, transforming pain into language and memory into art. By situating their narratives within a Freudian framework, this paper reveals how madness and balance, rather than opposing forces, represent two distinct but equally valid pathways through which literature confronts trauma. Ultimately, their contributions underscore that Partition literature is not merely a historical record but a psychological testimony of survival, resistance, and meaning making in the face of profound human disintegration.

Keywords : Saadat Hasan Manto, Kartar Singh Duggal, creative madness, balanced personality, Psychoanalysis.

DOI :

Page Number : 197-201