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Proquest Dissertations UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Recentering the Individual: Reading Arundhati Roy's Nonfiction Prose in the Context of Edward Said's Theories by Navneet Kumar A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER, 2010 ©Navneet Kumar 2010 i Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-69457-2 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-69457-2 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Nnternet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondares ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. ••I Canada Abstract Arundhati Roy's Man Booker Prize winning novel, The God of Small Things, has received generous attention within literary studies. Yet, Roy's numerous collections of nonfiction prose have hardly made it into class rooms or literary, academic journals. This perhaps is a symptom of the state of English Studies today, its now long-standing habit of focusing on poetry, drama, short-stories, and the novel as worthwhile genres. My thesis contributes to knowledge in the following ways: a) by focusing on the nonfiction prose of Arundhati Roy the thesis recognizes the importance of this genre for literary studies; b) by tracing a pattern of what I have called "re-centering of the marginalized individual" in Roy's works, and that too within the framework of the theories of Edward Said, my thesis argues for alternative modes of representing the marginalized (these modes are derived through close readings of Roy's works and reflections on Said's theories, especially on humanism); c) by critically engaging with the form and content of Roy's works, particularly by examining related concepts of the individual, the universal, and representation, and as developed by Said, my thesis provides a modest challenge to postcolonial studies, encouraging its return to historical and political processes. This thesis argues, in the context of Said's theories on humanism, that Roy's choice to deploy nonfiction as her narrative style to recenter the oppressed individual articulates a politics of resistance for the individual and, further, disrupts the prescriptive boundaries of the literary canon. I develop this thesis in the course of three chapters: the first chapter examines what it means for Roy to recenter the individual in her nonfiction works and how this can be interpreted within the framework of Said's theories of the intellectual; the second chapter re-examines Roy's representation of the individual but within Saidian arguments that favour universalism; the final chapter theorizes representations of the marginalized through re-readings of Said's Orientalism iii and later works. In an "Introduction" and "Conclusion" I summarize my methodology and contributions to literary studies in general and postcolonial studies in particular. Throughout, the thesis emphasizes the importance of the genre of nonfiction prose for literary studies and highlights the relationship between genre and issues of social justice. IV Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Clara Joseph for many reasons: for teaching me how to construct an argument, for always being available for meetings and discussions, for her tireless readings of those innumerable drafts, for her incisive comments on those drafts, for constantly and endlessly pushing me to further develop my thoughts and ideas, and for being a true guide, mentor, and an inimitable role model. The rigors of thesis writing were quite enlivened by your wit and humor. Dr. Joseph, thanks once again for everything as this has been a true learning experience for me in the real sense of the word. I owe this first major piece of my writing to you in more ways than one. Thanks are also due to Dr. Pamela McCallum for her belief in the project. Her incisive comments on the initial proposal drafts have provided the much-needed depth and direction to the thesis. Dr. Victor Ramraj has been ever helpful in discussing with me issues and complexities related to ideas of humanism and universalism. The pleasures of a conversation were made alive with those numerous discussions covering a wide range of issues. Dr. Ramraj, many thanks for those memorable discussions. Thanks to Dr. Karim Dharamsi, whom I have known for less than a year, but whose humor, brilliance, and friendship have been inspiring especially during the crucial stages of my writing. Thanks for buying me those cups of coffee and many thanks for those wonderful discussions. I am also grateful to my family for contributions to my writing that really extend far beyond the merely academic ones. Shelly, for inspiring me to take on research which landed me in Calgary, and for her love and support; Shrey, for enduring those long hours in my office, while I wrote my dissertation; and Saanya, for giving me those much-needed breaks when she would v run with my books and I had to chase her down. My Dad, for teaching me things that have become a part of my life and even my thesis here. Thanks Dad for encouraging me to read and constantly supporting all my endeavours. Thanks to my mother-in-law and father-in-law for their unswerving encouragement and belief in me. Pilar, for being a supportive office mate and a friend. Thanks to Sunny for all his prayers and his unvarying support. Without all these people and their support this dissertation would not have been possible. Thanks to the Department of English at the University of Calgary— especially, Dr. McWhir and Dr. Perreault for making available a timely Thesis Completion Grant, which ensured that I was able to write. VI For my Mother, Pushpa whose presence I can feel; For Saanya, Shrey, Shelly, & Dad VII TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval Page ii Abstract iii Acknowledgements v Dedication vii Table of Contents viii INTRODUCTION 1 Arundhati Roy and the Small 3 Roy and the Genre of Nonfiction Prose 8 Edward Said 11 Saidian Humanism 13 An Overview of the Chapters 17 CHAPTER I: RECENTERING THE INDIVIDUAL 24 Arundhati Roy and Genre 30 The Individual in Roy 37 Said's Humanism and the Individual Contextualized 41 Foucault, Said, and Humanism 45 The Writer-Intellectual as a Humanist 53 CHAPTER II: THE INDIVIDUAL RECONSIDERED: HUMANISM AS UNIVERSALISM...58 Said's Relevance for Roy 62 Humanism 62 Nonfiction Prose 72 The Individual in Roy vis-a-vis Said's Humanism 75 From Individual to Universal 84 VIII Individual Freedom and Genre 90 Said and Genre 103 CHAPTER III: BEYOND REPRESENTATION OF THE MARGINALIZED AND RESISTANCE 109 Section I: Representation 115 Orientalism and Representation 120 The Problematics of Representation 126 Section II: The Saidian Intellectual 131 The Intellectual as an Amateur 133 Professionalism Contextualized 137 Amateurism and Communication 142 Section III: Representing Resistance as Opposition 146 Roy, Said, and Gandhi.... 154 Imagining Popular Resistance 158 Section IV: Genres and Canonicity 167 Genres and Resistance 175 CONCLUSION 187 Works Cited 199 IX 1 Introduction Recentering the Individual: Reading Arundhati Roy's Nonfiction Prose in the Context of Edward Said's Theories National consciousness ...must now be enriched and deepened by a very rapid transformation into a consciousness of social and political needs, in other words into real humanism. Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth Arundhati Roy's nonfiction prose repeatedly engages with the representation and consequent recentering of the marginalized individual through the figure of the writer- intellectual. However, a closer examination of her works reveals a nuanced understanding of the ideas of representation, which she interprets as speaking with rather than speaking for or about the marginalized. Roy's narratives, even as they simultaneously attempt to represent the oppressed, reveal a space for creating opportunities of responsibility and freedom as suggested forcefully by the Nobel laureate, Amartya Sen. When Roy, through her nonfiction writing helps create these opportunities of responsibility and freedom for the marginalized, then her narratives in many ways resemble what a Saidian humanist would do for the benefit of the marginalized other. Humanism, as understood by Said essentially relies on the power of "human will and agency" to alter the situations of other less privileged human beings across the globe (Humanism and Democratic Criticism 15).1 Thus, "humanism might or could be a democratic process producing a critical and progressively freer mind" for the others (HDC 16).
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