A Deconstructive Analysis of ‘My Feudal Lord’, an Autobiographical Novel by Tehmina Durrani

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17042768

Abstract

This research paper aims to apply Jacques Derrida’s theory of deconstruction to Tehmina Durrani’s autobiographical novel My Feudal Lord. It reveals the contradictory structure and binary oppositions that permeate the narrative, and destabilize fixed meanings. The analysis portrays the protagonist, Durrani herself, in contradictory roles such as a victim of patriarchal feudal violence and an agent in the power structures she later critiques. This presentation blurs the distinction between oppressors and oppressed and subverts fixed reading of the novel. Similarly, stable concepts (such as loyalty, love, or power) are internally destabilized by contradiction and ambiguity. This deconstructive reading of her story transcends feminist interpretations, and uncovers narrative instability, emotional ambivalence, and textual paradoxes of the novel. The tone and structure of the novel oscillate between defiance and longing, resentment and attraction, and demonstrate a complex subjectivity. The research examines that moments of apparent empowerment simultaneously reinforce subordination, which shows the flexibility of meaning. In this way, Derrida’s approach reveals that the novel is continuously subverts its own claims, showing contradiction at Durrani’s narrative.

Keywords: Derrida, Deconstruction, Contradictions, Binary opposition, Narrative instability, Tehmina Durrani, My Feudal Lord