Wires, Currents, and Connections: The Symbolic Economy of Electricity in Daniyal Mueenuddin’s Nawabdin Electrician
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17534698
Keywords:
Symbolic Economy, Socio-Economic, Hierarchies, Marxist, Postcolonial, Empowerment, Fragile, Feudal, Ingenuity.Abstract
The paper will discuss the symbolic economy of electricity in the short story, Nawabdin Electrician by Daniyal Mueenuddin, which shows how a simple aspect can be used as a metaphor on many levels through the lens of socio-economic situations in rural Pakistan. Electricity as a literal source of livelihood to the main protagonist becomes a very powerful symbol of modernity, longing, and transient empowerment in the text. Due to the ingenuity and the attempt of Nawabdin, the story sheds light on the potential freedom and restraint regarding the social mobility in the society which has not completely got rid of feudal hierarchies. However, the changeable and highly risky character of electricity reflects the changeability of these upward climbs and displays the fragility of any advances that the marginalized is making. This discussion relies on theoretical concepts drawn in a postcolonial and Marxist approach and therefore, this project argues that Mueenuddin employs the theme of electricity to explore the overlap between technology, power, and inequality. Through the emphasis on one motif, the paper offers a narrow scope to the scholarship of Mueenuddin by introducing the idea of the transformative and fragile nature of technologically advancing rural Pakistan.
