Political Representation of Mumbai in Rohinton Mistry's Such a Long
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Political Representation of Mumbai in Rohinton Mistry’s Such a Long Journey and A Fine Balance A Dissertation Submitted to Christ University in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Philosophy in English Studies by Thakkar Shaival Dilipbhai 1234106 Under the Guidance of John Joseph Kennedy Department of English CHRIST UNIVERSITY BANGALORE, INDIA MARCH 2014 Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose.Give credit to the author by citing properly, if you are using it. Approval of Dissertation Dissertation entitled ‘Political Representation of Mumbai in Rohinton Mistry’s Such a Long Journey and A Fine Balance’ by Thakkar Shaival Dilipbhai, Reg. No. 1234106, is approved for the award of the degree Master of Philosophy in English Studies. Name Signature Examiners: 1. ___________________ ___________________ 2. ___________________ ___________________ 3. ___________________ ___________________ Supervisors: Dr. John Joseph Kennedy ___________________ Chairperson Dr. John Joseph Kennedy _______ Date: ___________ Place: Bangalore ii Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose.Give credit to the author by citing properly, if you are using it. DECLARATION I, Thakkar Shaival Dilipbhai, hereby declare that the dissertation, entitled ‘Political Representation of Mumbai in Rohinton Mistry’s Such a Long Journey and A Fine Balance’ is a record of original research work undertaken by me for the award of the degree Master of Philosophy in English Studies. I have completed this study under the supervision of Dr. John Joseph Kennedy, Department of English. I also declare that this dissertation has not been submitted for the award of any degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship or other title. It has not been sent for any publication or presentation purpose. I hereby confirm the originality of the work and that there is no plagiarism in any part of the dissertation. Place: Bangalore Thakkar Shaival Dilipbhai Date: 29 March 2014 Reg. No. 1234106 Department of English Christ University Bangalore iii Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose.Give credit to the author by citing properly, if you are using it. Certificate This is to certify that the dissertation submitted by Thakkar Shaival Dilipbhai (Reg. No. 1234106) entitled ‘Political Representation of Mumbai in Rohinton Mistry’s Such a Long Journey and A Fine Balance’ is a record of research work done by him during the academic year 2012-2013 under our supervision in partial fulfilment for the award the degree Master of Philosophy in English Studies. This dissertation has not been submitted for the award of any degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship or other title. It has not been sent for any publication or presentation purpose. I hereby confirm the originality of the work and that there is no plagiarism in any part of the dissertation. Place: Bangalore Dr. John Joseph Kennedy Department of English Christ University Bangalore Head Department of English Christ University Bangalore Property of Christ University. iv Use it for fair purpose.Give credit to the author by citing properly, if you are using it. Acknowledgment For a long time, I wished to research the fascinating works of Rohinton Mistry. It was only because of Christ University that this research-dream came true. It was a happy co-incidence that my guide Dr. John Joseph Kennedy also shared this research interest. I am very grateful for his time, encouragement and for giving the right direction to this thesis. My co-guide Anupama Nayar looked at several drafts of this thesis since last year and fully supported me before every presentation of the research work. I am deeply grateful to her for her time, advice, and for her involvement in the entire project. Thanks are also due to our MPhil Course Coordinator Mr. Joshua G who was always there to answer all our queries and to make sure that the research work went on smoothly. I am thankful to my internal examiner Dr. Abhaya N B whose insights and suggestions helped give the thesis a better shape. I enjoyed attending the classes of Dr. Anil Pinto, Ms. Gaana J, Ms. Renu Elizabeth and Ms. Sreelatha. I learned a lot in their classes about academic writing, research methods and Indian Writing in English. I also enjoyed the lively discussions that took place in these classes. I also want to thank Mr. Padmakumar and Ms. Shobhana. P. Mathews for their suggestions and support during the course of the research work. I want to thank my friend Ward Berenschot for introducing me to the world of Rohinton Mistry by lending me A Fine Balance when I was an undergraduate. I want to thank my friend Anna Sacha for readily agreeing to proof-read this thesis. My friend Vatsal Makhija deserves kudos for taking the time out from his work to proof-read the thesis in a record time of 3 days! v Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose.Give credit to the author by citing properly, if you are using it. My family has always been very supportive of me in all my academic endeavours. I want to thank my father Dilip Thakkar, my mother Bharati Thakkar and my sister Hirva Thakkar for their love, support and encouragement. I also want to thank my wife Malashree for encouraging me to pursue the MPhil program. It was because of her continual support that I managed to complete the MPhil thesis. Property of Christvi University. Use it for fair purpose.Give credit to the author by citing properly, if you are using it. Contents Approval of Dissertation ii Declaration iii Acknowledgement v Contents vii Abstract viii Chapter I 1 Introduction Chapter II 17 Political Representation of Mumbai in Such a Long Journey Chapter III 60 Political Representation of Mumbai in A Fine Balance Chapter IV 111 Conclusion Bibliography 122 vii Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose.Give credit to the author by citing properly, if you are using it. Abstract The representation of cities in works of literature is significant as it is these images of cities which are consumed throughout the world. The objective of this thesis is to examine the Political Representation of Mumbai in Rohinton Mistry’s Such a Long Journey and A Fine Balance. I have used Stuart Hall’s essay The Work of Representation as the theoretical framework for analysing the two selected works of fiction. I have analysed representation in the two texts by applying the semiotic approach to representation; by studying the contextual major political events, characters and spaces in the city as signs which are encoded by the author in the texts to construct the city of Mumbai. It was found that the author encodes Such a Long Journey with the political representation of Mumbai as ‘a city in siege’, as ‘a city in throes of conspiracy’ and as ‘a city of struggle, squalor, pleasure, nostalgia, loss, spirituality and political power struggles’ and thus constructs the city of Mumbai in this novel . Moreover, the political representation of Mumbai in A Fine Balance is done by employing signs like Mumbai as ‘a city grappling with a draconic state and its life- denying laws’, Mumbai as ‘an all-embracing and redemptive city’ and of Mumbai as ‘a city great in its magnanimity but also great in its inadequacies’. Thus, Mistry constructs Mumbai which is the signifying field on which Emergency politics are played out in the novel. Property of Christ University. viii Use it for fair purpose.Give credit to the author by citing properly, if you are using it. Chapter 1 Introduction The objective of this research thesis is to examine the Political Representation of Mumbai in Rohinton Mistry’s Such a Long Journey and A Fine Balance which will be abbreviated throughout this dissertation as SLJ and AFB. The research thesis is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1- Introduction contains the author profile, a brief history of the city of Mumbai, an introduction of the two novels, and literature review. Chapter 2- Political Representation of Mumbai in Such a Long Journey (SLJ) contains plot of the novel, representation of the Bangladesh Liberation War (1971), facts and information about the Nagarwala scandal, representation of the Nagarwala Scandal, representation of Mumbai constructed through cityscapes and characters’ perspectives on the city and conclusion. Chapter 3- Political Representation of Mumbai in A Fine Balance (AFB) contains the plot of the novel, representation of the Emergency, Casteism and caste violence, representation of Mumbai that is constructed through cityscapes, characters’ perspectives on the city and comparisons of the cityscape to other spaces and conclusion. Chapter 4 contains the conclusion of the thesis which includes the findings and analysis about the Political Representation of Mumbai in Such a Long Journey, and the Political Representation of Mumbai in A Fine Balance. This chapter will look at the author profile, a brief history of the city of Mumbai, an introduction of the two novels, and literature review. Author profile Rohinton Mistry (born 3 July 1952) is an Indian-born Canadian writer in English. Residing in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, Mistry is of Indian origin, originally Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose.Give credit to the author by citing properly, if you are using it. 2 from Mumbai. He practises Zoroastrianism and belongs to the Parsi community. Mistry is a Neustadt International Prize for Literature laureate (2012). Penguin Books Canada published his collection of 11 short stories, Tales from Firozsha Baag in 1987. It was later published in the United States as Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag. The book consists of short stories, all set within one apartment complex in modern-day Mumbai. When his second book, the novel Such a Long Journey, was published in 1991, it won the Governor General's Award, the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, and the W.H.