ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sociol.
Sec. Race and Ethnicity
From Zenana to Courtroom: The Politics of Genre and Gender in Sujata Massey's Historical Crime Fiction
Nila G T
Akaitab Mukherjee
VIT University Chennai, Chennai, India
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Abstract
In the contemporary era, numerous works on the genre of detective fiction have been published by women writers. Most of the works are reflections of colonialism and its outcome and play a significant role in the formation of postcolonial consciousness. These works not only emphasise the colonial violence but also challenge to question the barrier between culture and orientalism. Sujatha Massey's work A Murder on Malabar Hill (2018) anchors on colonial violence and its effect on the Indian culture and society. This article analyses Massey's text from the perspective of colonialism. It employs Homi K. Bhabha's theory of "third space" and "hybridity", comprehending the protagonist's embodiment of duality, traditional Indian culture, and the westernised legal system; a hybrid legal system in which colonial laws intersect with local customs. It thus delves into Massey's description of mystery in the socio-political scenario of 1920s Bombay, as well as a poignant scrutiny of the struggles and upheavals taking place in colonial India.
Summary
Keywords
colonial violence, Colonialism, Detective fiction, Hybridity, Legal system, orientalism, third space
Received
02 August 2025
Accepted
02 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 G T and Mukherjee. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Akaitab Mukherjee
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