Metaphors in the political narratives of Kashmiri Youth

Abstract

This paper explores the role of metaphor in political discourses in Kashmir. Through a micro-study of one year—2016, which saw the eruption of a mass uprising—of what may be described as resistance literature, I demonstrate that the ‘paradise lost’ and ‘wound’ metaphors permeate Kashmiri political discourse. While the ‘paradise lost’ metaphor broadly entails a consensual interpretation, the ‘wound’ metaphor expresses Kashmiri political subjectivity in a distinctly emotional way, as this metaphor is embedded in affective cultural practices. The paper seeks to deepen the understanding of Kashmiri political narratives by examining to what effect metaphorical language operates within them, and how it allows Kashmiri youth a creative space for dissent in terms of evocatively expressing political grievances, countering statist narratives and affirming a sense of political community.