Socio-Political Power Relations in Mohsin’s Between You, Me And The Four Walls: A Marxist Critique

Abstract

The article provides a Marxist critique of Moni Mohsin's novel, Between You, Me, and The Four Walls, by employing an intersectional framework of Marxist and Cultural theories comprising Raymond William’s Cultural theory, Gramsci’s Hegemony, and Althusser’s Ideology. This research argues that Mohsin’s selected narrative involves a complex interplay of ideology, hegemony, and culture to manifest the complexities of social, economic, and political power relations in the context of Pakistan. In order to construct a persuasive document of human history and social change, the rationale of this research is to expose Pakistani culture and society where Hegemony and Ideological State Apparatuses work to create further dichotomy and class faction among people. Furthermore, by discussing the features like democracy, ideology and hegemony– responsible for the creation of a conventional culture, the work reveals simplified yet unusual representation of native culture and society. The article also challenges the diverse inherent notions of military and politics that are responsible in shaping culture(s), ideologies and creating hegemony among the people. Thus, this research concludes that the complex interplay of ideology, hegemony, and culture in Mohsin's novel unveils the power dynamics in Pakistani society and encourages critical thinking and self-reflection towards constructing a fair and just society.