People are Without Face: Physiognomies of Hegemonic Powers and Issues of Transformation in Henning Mankell’s Selected Literary Fiction

Abstract

This research explores the representation of the subaltern characters in Henning Mankell's The Shadow Girls. Mankell foregrounds the peripheral characters whose voice has been silenced due to the lack of agency. The main characters like Tea-Bag, Tania, and Leila are submissive and inferior who live a life of absurdity. They are wretched and stifled because of the suppressive hegemonic power, poor economic background, and their inferior rank in terms of class, gender, inability, refugee status, and lack of agency. By bringing subaltern characters into the forefront, the novel shows that subalternity is not only limited to the South Asian context but could bring all the marginal voices of the world. On the surface, Mankell pretends to provide a platform for the minority group but the true voices of the subaltern characters remain unheard. This research is qualitative in nature. Theories presented by Antonio Gramsci, David Ludden, Sarah Crompton, and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak help to find the answers to the research questions for this research. As the concern of the revolution from lower people, this novel does not provide the platform openly but desires to transform Leila as an actress, Tea-Bag neglects authoritarian power and some other characters somehow try to evoke the revolution from the lower in the novel.