DECONSTRUCTION OF MULTIPLE OPPRESSION IN MUEENUDDIN’S THIS IS WHERE THE SERPENT LIVES: A DECOLONIAL FEMINIST STUDY

Abstract

This article argues that Danial Mueenuddin’s ‘This is Where the Serpent Lives’ (2026) should not be read as a mere book with a very casual story but as a reflection of feudal governance in Pakistan. Rather than depicting it as a comparison between rural and city life, this novel gives a more comprehensive approach to more closely interrogate the caste system, gender binaries, gender violence, colonial rule, and racial discrimination. To illuminate these structures, this novel is viewed particularly from the perspective of Maria Lugones’ Multiple Oppression. The argument proceeds from the perspective of Saqib’s character and Hisham Attar as representatives of the Feudal System. The novel, ‘This is Where the Serpent Lives’ (2026), is authored by the well-known Pakistani author Danial Mueenuddin. A poor person is never allowed to have even a tenth of his Master’s property, which is what the novel revolves around to expose the lingering realities of Pakistani Feudal lords having great lands in Pakistan through colonial rule. Maria Lugones’ idea of Multiple Oppression has taken its responsibility in explaining how various systems, such as race, gender, class, sexuality, and colonialism interlock and mutually reinforce each other. Maria Lugones, in her 2003 book, Pilgrimages/Peregrinajes: Theorizing Coalition against Multiple Oppressions, introduced Decolonial Feminism as a theoretical framework. I intend to view the novel, ‘This is Where the Serpent Lives’ from the Decolonial Feminist Perspective. My research aims at exposing various bitter realities of Pakistan’s Feudal Systems as a tool to operate colonialism, racial discrimination, gender oppression, and class difference in Danial Mueenuddin’s ‘This is Where the Serpent Lives’ (2026). This novel is not analyzed from this perspective earlier. This research aims to fill the gap and pave the way for further research.