| Abstract | This paper introduces the reader to Gurdial Singh's fiction which ranges from short stories to longer works such as Unhoye (1966), Kuwela (1968), Addh Chanini Raat (1972), Anhe Ghore Da Daan (1976) -- recently made into an award winning Punjabi film by Gurvinder Singh - and Parsa (1991). Through these works Gurdial Singh radicalised the Punjabi novel and emerged as the messiah of the marginalised, dispossessed and oppressed. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part places Gurdial Singh as well as his work within the wider linguistic, historical and cultural frame and Punjabi literature. The second part provides nuanced readings and analyses of his novel Parsa and considers whether it could be perceived as an effective site for cultural memory of Punjabi people, their poetry, language and history.
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