CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Etheses - A Saurashtra University Library Service Saurashtra University Re – Accredited Grade ‘B’ by NAAC (CGPA 2.93) Vaishnav, Bhakti I., 2012, “Amitav Ghosh's Writings: Issues, Idologies and Craftsmanship”, thesis PhD, Saurashtra University http://etheses.saurashtrauniversity.edu/id/958 Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Saurashtra University Theses Service http://etheses.saurashtrauniversity.edu [email protected] © 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 1 Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) 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 2 Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) 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) 3 Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) 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 4 Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) 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) 5 Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) CHAPTER 1 CONTEXT 6 Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) 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 7 Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) 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. 8 Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) 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.