ECOCRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MANTO'S 'TOBA TEK SINGH': RE-IMAGING AESTHETICS OF PLACE AND PERSON

This in-depth analysis of the aesthetics of place and person in 'Toba Tek Singh', a famous short story by Saadat Hassan Manto, and a masterpiece of South Asian literature in English, presents a re-reading in the light of ecotheoretical concepts of 'place'. It theorises how material space as 'place' is represented in literature and brings to light the hegemony of sociocultural discourses in relation to space, belittling its connection to nature. Ecotheory raises concerns of human and non-human life within the natural ecosystem of specific indigenous places. The protagonist of the story, Bishan Singh, ultimately also the namesake of a place, Toba Tek Singh, dies a terrible death while desperately searching for his native place. The article presents the story as a powerful literary attempt to re-imagine the places and spaces where we live and our relations to them.

Automated summary

This article provides an in-depth analysis and reinterpretation of 'Toba Tek Singh', a masterpiece of South Asian literature in English, through the exploration of aesthetics of place and person, and the presentation of ecotheoretical concepts and sociocultural hegemony in relation to space. By examining the protagonist's fate and search for his native place, it highlights the neglect of nature and the significance of reconsidering our living spaces and relationships to them.