Film Screening—Deepa Mehta's Midnight's Children

This blog is created as part of the academic activity for Paper 202: Indian English Literature – Post-Independence, guided by Dr. Dilip Barad Sir. For more details, please refer to the course material. Click Here.

Film Screening—Deepa Mehta's Midnight's Children

1. Pre-viewing Activities

1. Who narrates history — the victors or the marginalized? How does this relate to
personal identity?  

Traditionally, history is often narrated by the victors — those in power who control the dominant narrative. This official history tends to emphasize their version of events, celebrating their triumphs and sidelining or silencing marginalized voices. Such a top-down approach to history usually presents a linear, singular story aligned with political or cultural hegemonies.

However, Midnight’s Children challenges this by foregrounding the marginalized narrator — Saleem Sinai, who represents a personal and fragmented perspective that counters the official histories of postcolonial India. Saleem’s narration reveals the gaps, silences, and contradictions left out by dominant narratives. His story blends personal memory with national history, showing how the past is subjective and multifaceted.

This shift in narration highlights that history is not monolithic; it can be reclaimed by the marginalized to reshape identity and collective memory. In postcolonial contexts, the act of narrating history becomes a political and cultural assertion against colonial and elite domination.

Relation to Personal Identity:

Saleem’s personal identity is deeply intertwined with the narration of history because:

He embodies the nation’s fractured identity — born at midnight of India’s independence, Saleem’s life symbolizes the hybrid, contested, and fragmented postcolonial identity.

His story shows how personal and national histories intersect; his identity is shaped by political upheaval (Partition, Emergency) and cultural dislocation.

By telling his own story, Saleem reclaims agency over his identity, resisting imposed narratives that try to categorize people strictly by religion, class, or politics.

This reflects the postcolonial theme that personal identity is constructed through multiple voices and histories, especially those marginalized by dominant discourse.

Summary:

History is often narrated by victors, but Midnight’s Children empowers the marginalized narrator.

This alternative narration reveals the complexity of history and identity.

Personal identity is linked to who controls the narrative, and marginalized voices can reclaim identity by telling their own stories.

Conclusion: 

In Midnight’s Children, history is reclaimed from the victors by a marginalized narrator, revealing hidden truths. This challenges dominant, official accounts and highlights multiple perspectives. Saleem’s personal identity is inseparable from the national story, showing how individual and collective histories shape each other. The film emphasizes that identity is complex, hybrid, and often fractured in postcolonial societies. Ultimately, narrating history becomes a powerful act of resistance and self-definition.

2.What makes a nation? Is it geography, governance, culture, or memory? 

A nation is not defined by a single element; rather, it is a complex construct shaped by multiple factors — geography, governance, culture, and collective memory.

From a political perspective, geography and governance create the framework of a nation: defined borders, political systems, and state institutions. However, from a postcolonial and cultural perspective, a nation exists as much in the minds of its people as in physical territory. Benedict Anderson calls this an “imagined community”, where members may never meet but share a sense of belonging.

In Midnight’s Children, the idea of the nation goes beyond physical boundaries. India’s identity is shown as fluid, hybrid, and contested — shaped by religious diversity, linguistic plurality, and historical traumas like Partition and the Emergency. For Saleem Sinai, the nation is not merely land or governance but also the collective memory of its people: their struggles, celebrations, and shared stories.

This makes culture and memory central — they bind people together across geography and political divisions. Yet, the film also questions whether a single, coherent national identity is possible in a postcolonial state where memory is fractured and identities are hybrid.

Summary Points

Geography: Gives physical borders but doesn’t guarantee unity.

Governance: Creates laws and order but may not represent all groups equally.

Culture: Shared traditions, language, and art unify people emotionally.

Memory: Collective experiences — even painful ones — shape identity.

In postcolonial contexts, memory and culture often outweigh geography and governance in truly defining the nation.

Conclusion

A nation is a blend of land, governance, shared culture, and collective memory. In Midnight’s Children, India’s nationhood is fluid, diverse, and often fragmented. Geography and governance provide structure, but culture and memory give meaning. Saleem’s story shows how personal memories mirror national history. Ultimately, a nation lives as much in its people’s shared imagination as in its physical borders.

3. Can language be colonized or decolonized? Think about English in India.

Language can be colonized when it is imposed by a dominant power as a tool of control, often replacing or marginalizing native languages. In colonial India, English became the language of administration, education, and law, intended to create a class of people aligned with colonial values. This imposition often carried cultural dominance, privileging English over local languages and shaping access to power.

However, language can also be decolonized through appropriation and transformation. Postcolonial thinkers argue that once a language is taken up by the colonized, it can be reshaped to reflect their own experiences, idioms, and cultural realities. In this sense, English in India has evolved far beyond its colonial origins. It is now a language spoken, written, and adapted by millions, infused with Indian vocabulary, rhythms, and cultural references.

This transformation reflects linguistic hybridity — the creation of a “third space” (Homi Bhabha) where language no longer belongs to the colonizer or colonized alone, but becomes a shared, adaptive medium. Thus, while language can be colonized, it can also be reclaimed and redefined by those who use it.

Conclusion

Language can be a tool of colonization, enforcing cultural and political dominance. In India, English was once such a tool under British rule. Over time, Indians have appropriated and reshaped it to fit local realities. This process turns a colonial language into a hybrid form of expression. Decolonizing language means making it serve the speaker’s identity rather than the colonizer’s authority.