Interpellation of Subalternity and Duality in Behavior: How Subalterns Resist Oppression While Simultaneously Perpetuating It

The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is one of the best predictors of behavioral intention and the ultimate behavior of individuals.Its three constructs-'Attitude,' or the belief of a person towards a behavior; 'Subjective Norms,' or the perceived social pressure to perform or not perform the behavior; and 'Perceived Behavioral Control,' or the individual's perception of how likely they are to pull off that behavior-predict a person's behavior towards a phenomenon (Ajzen).Any unfavorable construct decreases the likelihood of engaging in that particular behavior.This research paper applies TPB to Sultan in sne Seierstad's The Bookseller of Kabul (2002) to understand his contradictory attitude towards the follies he seems to challenge and perpetuate.Sultan is an outwardly free-minded bookseller, but at home, he perpetuates orthodoxy.The study examines how gender conditioning and hegemonic masculinity shape his subjective norms and perceived behavioral control, leading to contradictions in his attitude, intention, and behavior.The research follows an interpretivist philosophy, using an inductive approach with close reading and textual analysis as qualitative methods.The paper demonstrates how, despite progressive ideas, individuals in patriarchal societies show resistance to change in the duality of their attitude due to external factors at play.