Etheses - Saurashtra University

138 Pages·2012·0.49 MB·English

Saurashtra University
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Vaishnav, Bhakti I., 2012, “Amitav Ghosh's Writings: Issues, Idologies and
Craftsmanship”, thesis PhD, Saurashtra University

http://etheses.saurashtrauniversity.edu/id/958

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© The Author
Amitav Ghosh’s Writings: Issues, Ideologies and
Craftsmanship
A Dissertation Submitted To
Saurashtra University
Rajkot
For the Award of Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
In
English
Supervised by: Submitted by:
Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee Bhakti Vaishnav
Associate Professor
Department of English
And Comparative Literary Studies
Saurashtra University
Rajkot

2012 3780

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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the thesis entitled Amitave Ghosh’s Writings: Issues,
Ideologies and Craftsmanship is a bonafide research work carried out by Ms.
Bhakti Vaishnav under my guidance and supervision and that no part of this thesis
has been university for the award of any degree, diploma or title. I find the thesis
fit for submission for the Award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Place : __________________
Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee
Date : Associate Professor
Department of English and
Comparative Literary Studies,
Saurashtra University,
Rajkot

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DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the research work incorporated in this thesis entitled
Amitav Ghosh’s Writings: Issues , Ideologies and Craftsmanship is the result of
investigations carried out by me under the supervision of Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee,
Associate Professor, Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies,
Saurashtra University, Rajkot (Gujarat) India. This work is original and has not
been submitted in part or full for any degree or diploma to this or any other
university.

Place: ___________________

Date: Ms. Bhakti Vaishnav
(Research Student)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is my privilege to express my earnest gratitude to those who guided and supported me in doing
my work pertaining to the dissertation for Doctoral of Philosophy. I am immensely grateful to all
those who have helped me, supported and encouraged me in visible and invisible manner and
this acknowledgement is just a token of my utmost thankfulness.
I am indebted to my supervisor Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee, Associate Professor, Department of
English and Comparative Literary Studies, Saurashtra University, Rajkot who has been always
encouraging, critical and inspiring throughout the journey. With his extensive knowledge , wide
experience and meticulous approach, he has been the torch bearer in the pursuit of the
completion of the dissertation. He has enriched and widened my understanding of the subject
and the dissertation right from the conception of the work till the submission .
I must thank Dr. Kamal Mehta, Head, Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies,
Saurashtra University, Rajkot for his support and guidance. I extend my sincere thanks to Dr.
A.K.Singh , Director , School of Translation Studies , IGNOU, Delhi for giving pertinent
suggestions during and after my interview for admission. Dr. Singh and Dr. Mehta and Dr.
Mukherjee had initiated me and trained me for research during the time I was pursuing my
M.Phil. and M.A. in the Department. Their formal and informal teachings shaped my
consciousness and enlarged my outlook towards literature and life in general. I am thankful to
Dr. R.B. Zala for his timely help and support in terms of books and reference materials. I am also
thankful to Dr. J.K.Dodiya for his support.

I am immensely indebted to Prof. Kulbhushan Jain , Dean , Faculty of Doctoral Studies, CEPT
University ,Ahmedabad for his continuous encouragement , critique on my conceptual
framework and insistence on focusing on my Doctoral Studies. I extend my thanks to the library
of Saurashtra University, Department Library of Department of English and Comparative
Literary Studies, Saurashtra University, Library of CEPT University, Library of Gujarat
Vidyapith, British Library ,Ahmedabad for providing an access to various print materials.
I am equally thankful to my mother, Mrs. Asmita Vaishnav and two brothers, Dharmik and
Nishchint who saw me through the agonies of this research with their constant support and
encouragement. But for their positive outlook and faith in my abilities, I wouldn’t have
completed this work.
I would like to repeat myself that the gratitude for all the people whom I have thanked from the
bottom of my heart here, is much beyond what words can express.
Bhakti Vaishnav
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CONTENTS

Chapters Page
1. CONTEXT 2
2. HISTORY AND HISTORICISM IN HIS WORKS 21
3. KALEIDOSCOPIC VIEW OF ‘THE SUBALTERN’ 43
4. CONFLUENCE OF IDEOLOGY AND NARRATIVE CRAFTMANSHIP 64
5. CONCLUSION 94
6. APPENDIX i
(INTERVIEWS WITH AMITAV GHOSH)

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CHAPTER 1
CONTEXT
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CONTEXT
This chapter is divided into three parts: First part sums up the evolution of novel as form of
literature, in Post- independence Indian Writing in English and the shift in the genre during
1980s . The second part aims to draw an outline of various debates on Indian Writing in
English, views on exoticising India, postcolonial theories and resultant arguments for and against
Indian Writers in English .The Third part contextualizes Amitav Ghosh as a writer in the
conditions discussed in first two parts and puts forward the hypothesis and objectives of the
current study.
(I)
The evolution of the novel written in English, as a form, in India has been described by
Meenakshi Mukherjee,
“ the birth and the development of the novel in India ‘ as genre nursed by , if not born
out of the tension between opposing systems of values in a colonial society, and modified
by certain indigenous pressures.” Realism and Reality: The Novel and society in India-
Meenakshi Mukherjee (1985)
The growth of novel, like any other art form in the nation has been greatly influenced by the
issues and environs of independent India. In fact, Indian English Novel reflects the rising
nationalism and has grown with the nation’s independence. The novels by the first generation
writers show concern with national and social problems. The novels of the 1960s have a private
tone focusing on an individual’s life and are introspective. Novels form 1980 onwards created a
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watershed in the history of Indian English novels as they brought in a significant change in the
worldview, expression and the form.
The novels by Mulk Raj Anand reflect nationalism, social concerns, and Gandhian and
Nehruvian socialism. Anand’s novels are recognized as an instrument to see the history of Indian
novel in English. His experiments with social realism and the exuberance of North Indian
dialects, laid the foundation for linguistic and cultural representations in future novels. The
classic foreword to Kanthapura1 has been recognized as a manifesto for the path Raja Rao had
opted and preached for Indian Writing in English. He resolved the dichotomy of foreign
(English) language and methods of Indian story telling tradition through a systematic
indigenisation of English and a spirit and tempo of Indian life. He deviated from the sacrosanct
structure of European novel and shaped it on the lines of the epic tradition of India. He
complemented Anand’s effort of introducing North India to Indian English Novels by bringing in
an unusual blend of South Indian – French cultural vistas and realities. R.K. Narayan has seen
himself ‘as realistic fiction writer’ ( Mishra, Mehrotra (ed.) P. 195) He focused on the anxieties ,
disappointments and struggles of a generation who stood on the threshold of independence, the
point where the institutions established during British Raj were still dominating and negotiating
their way into independent India. Aubrey Menon is an important figure who has been
marginalized in the discussion of the novels during and after independence. With an added
advantage of his complex cultural background, he portrayed an objective view of East and the
West. He beholds a mirror to the world and gives his insight on the all pervasive system of
injustice and hypocrisy , racism, the tension between so called ‘civilised’ and ‘primitive ‘ people
and various aspects of colonialism through his fictional and non- fictional writings. Again often
over sighted in the history of Indian English novels, All About H. Hatter is a guiding milestone.
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G.V. Desani broke away with the rules of grammar and diction of standard English and adapted
the Joycean style for language in this novel. Structured around seven episodes which are
subdivided further into ‘Digest’, ‘Instruction’,’ Presumption’ and’ Life Encounter’. Hatter as a
novel set the stage for Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children with unpunctuated sentences and random
capitalization.
The great trio of Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and R.K. Narayan had been penning down fiction in
English before and after independence. However, writing fiction in English was not explored
much by larger groups of authors in India during this period. In fact, for almost two decades after
independence the exercise of writing a novel in English was considered against the norms of
loyalty for the nation. It took more than ten years for a novel in English to receive Sahitya
Akademi award. R.K. Narayan’s Guide heralded the era of acceptance of English novels by
Indian authors as an indigenous genre by winning the Sahitya Akademi award in 1960. Indian
English novel also marched ahead with the general economic growth and prosperity sustaining
the temporary setbacks of war and loss of great leaders.
Indian writers in English in the 1950s and 1960s were concerned about character development,
psychological depth and an effort to negotiate the sense of alienation in the modern world, albeit,
the nature of both ‘alienation’ and ‘modernity’ were not the same for India as it was for the west.
The emergence of women novelists was a significant development of these decades. Writers like
Kamala Markendaya, Ruth Prawar Jabhwala (for the reason she has accepted the fact that her
novels are written on India), Nayantara Sahgal and Anita Desai came upon the stage and shared
the platform enjoyed by best known writers in English. These women writers of the first
generation engaged themselves with issues of women in conventional marriage systems, human
relationships, and contemporary social and political developments from a woman’s point of view
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