Resistance, Hybridity and Decolonisation in Ayaz Rasool Nazki’s The Isle of Fantasy: A Postcolonial Reading.

Abstract

This paper studies Ayaz Rasool Nazki's The Isle of Fantasy ( 2024)through a postcolonial framework examining how the novel employs allegory and fantasy to explore questions of power, authority, displacement, identity, collaboration, and resistance. While existing studies have primarily focused on the novel's allegorical structure, moral vision, and archetypal dimensions, little attention has been paid to its postcolonial implications. Addressing this critical gap, the present study analyses the text through the theoretical frameworks of Edward Said, Homi K. Bhabha, Frantz Fanon, and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. The paper investigates how the island functions as a symbolic postcolonial space where authority is established through discourse, maintained through institutional structures, and challenged by marginalized communities. Particular attention is paid to the King's performative exercise of power, Pixie's displacement and transformation, the migration and struggles of the pigeon flock, Commando's collaboration with the eagle, and the resistance mounted by the mice against territorial occupation. Through close textual analysis, the study demonstrates how the novel critiques hegemonic structures while foregrounding the agency, resilience, and collective consciousness of vulnerable communities. It argues that The Isle of Fantasy transcends the boundaries of fantasy literature and emerges as a sophisticated postcolonial allegory that interrogates domination, identity formation, and social transformation.