Repressed Voices: A Psychoanalytic Study of Marginalized Women in Fauzia Saeed’s Taboo

Abstract

This study conducted a psychoanalytic examination of Fouzia Saeed's Taboo! The Hidden Culture of a Red-Light Area (2015) using Sigmund Freud's core theoretical principles. While previous research on Taboo has primarily focused on sociological, ethnographic, or feminist analyses, no previous study has examined the text using Freud's psychoanalytic framework—particularly concepts of repression, the unconscious mind, defense mechanisms, libido and sexuality, and civilization and repression. To address this gap, the study used a qualitative thematic analysis based on Freudian theory to analyze how women in Shahi Mohalla experienced voice inhibition and the psychological effects of cultural shame and marginalization. The study found that suppression worked on both a cultural and individual level, silencing female agency while causing serious mental health issues such as identity fragmentation, internalized shame and conflict. This study, which combined literary analysis with Freudian psychology, produced a comprehensive understanding of the complicated interplay between outward social repression and internal mental turmoil in postcolonial South Asian environments. The findings helped to further interdisciplinary studies by reaffirming Freud's theory's usefulness in analyzing gendered subjectivity and trauma within non-Western cultural settings. Furthermore, this study provided a methodological framework for future research aimed at applying Western psychoanalytic ideas to localized gendered experiences in literature and ethnography. Finally, our study broadened the critical discussion on marginalized women's narratives by underlining the importance of adding psychological perspectives alongside sociocultural critiques in order to properly understand the hidden costs of cultural repression.