Individual Identity in Modern and Postmodern Urdu Fiction: A Socio-Literary Study of Bazaar-e-Hayat

Abstract

This paper explores the complexities of individual identity in the context of modern and postmodern Urdu fiction, with a specific socio-literary focus on the short story collection Bazaar-e-Hayat. Through a critical lens, the study analyzes how literary representation mirrors the struggles of individuality in rapidly transforming socio-political and cultural environments. The research highlights the evolution of identity in relation to modernist concerns with alienation and fragmentation, and postmodernist explorations of multiplicity, relativism, and uncertainty. By situating Bazaar-e-Hayat within the wider framework of Urdu literary tradition, the study sheds light on how literature negotiates between social realism and existential inquiry, ultimately reflecting the tensions of individual identity in modern South Asian society.