DEPICTION OF THE HUMAN PSYCHE IN HINDI AND PUNJABI PSYCHOLOGICAL NOVELS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/JISSI.v2.i3.2026.104Keywords:
Hindi Novel, Punjabi Novel, Psychological Novel, Human Mind, Inner Conflict, Psychoanalysis, Female Consciousness, Internal StruggleAbstract
Hindi and Punjabi literatures represent two significant literary streams that articulate the diverse social, cultural, and psychological experiences of Indian society. The novelistic traditions in both languages offer a compelling portrayal of the individual's inner world—encompassing mental dilemmas, emotional struggles, frustration, love, guilt, loneliness, insecurity, and the quest for self-identity—alongside their external lives. Modern novels, in particular, shifted the focus from viewing the human being merely as a social unit to making their inner consciousness a central literary theme. This trend paved the way for the evolution of psychological novels in both Hindi and Punjabi. This research paper presents a comparative study of various facets of the human psyche, drawing upon Jainendra Kumar’s Sunita and Tyagpatra, Amrita Pritam’s Pinjar, and Nanak Singh’s Pavitra Papi. In Jainendra’s works, the individual's inner conflict, self-awareness, love, morality, and struggle against social conventions take center stage. Conversely, in Punjabi novels, individual psychology appears deeply intertwined with social reality, economic insecurity, female identity, the tragedy of Partition, and familial relationships. In Pinjar, the historical tragedy of Partition is depicted through its impact on both the individual and collective psyche of women. Pavitra Papi portrays the conflict between love, duty, sacrifice, guilt, and human empathy. The study reveals that the depiction of the human psyche in Hindi and Punjabi psychological novels is not confined to the individual's private mental state; rather, it is constantly shaped by social structures, family dynamics, gender inequality, historical circumstances, and moral values.
References
Arora, R., and Jha, S. (2016). The Female Body as a Site of Transgression: A Critical Study of Amrita Pritam’s Novel Pinjar (अतिक्रमण के स्थल के रूप में स्त्री-देह: अमृता प्रीतम के उपन्यास पिंजर का आलोचनात्मक अध्ययन).
Bhaskar, K. (2023). Tyagpatra: The Struggle of Self-Suffering and Its Meaning (‘त्यागपत्र’: आत्मपीड़ा का संघर्ष और उसके मायने). A Critical Study of the Psychological Aspects of Jainendra Kumar’s Tyagpatra (जैनेन्द्र कुमार के त्यागपत्र के मनोवैज्ञानिक पक्ष पर आलोचनात्मक अध्ययन).
Freud, S. (1953). The Interpretation of Dreams (स्वप्नों की व्याख्या). Basic Books.
Freud, S. (1961). The Ego and the Id (अहम् और इदम्). W. W. Norton and Company. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/00000441-196111000-00027
Freud, S. (1977). Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (मनोविश्लेषण पर प्रारंभिक व्याख्यान). Penguin Books.
Freud, S. (n.d.). Five Lessons on Psychoanalysis (मनोविश्लेषण के पाँच पाठ). Various Hindi editions.
Kumar, J. (2022). Sunita (सुनीता). Setu Prakashan.
Kumar, J. (n.d.). Tyagpatra (त्यागपत्र). Setu Prakashan.
Nagendra (Ed.). (n.d.). Hindi Sahitya Ka Itihas (हिंदी साहित्य का इतिहास). Bharatiya Jnanpith.
Nagendra (Ed.). (n.d.). Hindi Sahitya Ka Upanyas (हिंदी साहित्य का उपन्यास). Bharatiya Jnanpith.
Naikar, B. (2019). Political Hatred and Emotional Bonding in Amrita Pritam (अमृता प्रीतम में राजनीतिक घृणा और भावनात्मक बंधन). Literary Voice.
Pritam, A. (2021). Pinjar (पिंजर). Hind Pocket Books, Penguin Random House.
Sahitya Akademi. (n.d.). Nanak Singh: Bibliography (नानक सिंह: ग्रंथ-सूची). Sahitya Akademi.
Setu Prakashan. (n.d.). Hindi Literature Book List (हिंदी साहित्य पुस्तक सूची). Setu Prakashan.
Sharma, A. (2026). Partition, Pain and the People-Nation: Shared Trauma in Bhisham Sahni’s Tamas and Amrita Pritam’s Pinjar (विभाजन, पीड़ा और जन-राष्ट्र: भीष्म साहनी के तमस और अमृता प्रीतम के पिंजर में साझा आघात). In Literary Expressions of Nationalism: Culture, History and Representation (राष्ट्रवाद की साहित्यिक अभिव्यक्तियाँ: संस्कृति, इतिहास और प्रतिनिधित्व) (pp. 87–96). DOI: https://doi.org/10.48001/978-81-988770-9-3-7
Sharma, R. (n.d.). Hindi Sahitya Ki Bhumika (हिंदी साहित्य की भूमिका). Rajkamal Prakashan.
Shukla, R. (n.d.). Hindi Sahitya Ka Itihas (हिंदी साहित्य का इतिहास). Nagari Pracharini Sabha.
Singh, N. (n.d.). Pavitra Papi (पवित्र पापी). Original Punjabi edition.
Vajpeyi, N. (n.d.). Hindi Sahitya: Beesvin Shatabdi (हिंदी साहित्य: बीसवीं शताब्दी). Lokbharati Prakashan.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr. Avantika (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
With the licence CC-BY, authors retain the copyright, allowing anyone to download, reuse, re-print, modify, distribute, and/or copy their contribution. The work must be properly attributed to its author.
It is not necessary to ask for further permission from the author or journal board.
This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
