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'Hybridity' in the Novels of Ananda Devi

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‘HYBRIDITY’ IN THE NOVELS OF ANANDA DEVI Oulagambal Ashwiny Kistnareddy Licence, BA. Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Master of Philosophy July 2010 Abstract Hybridity is a term that has garnered a great deal of attention in the postcolonial world and has considerable critical purchase in the contemporary world. Its proponents, from Bakhtin (1981) and Bhabha (1994) to more recent theorists of hybridity in its various forms are many. However, it also has many dissidents. Hybridity’s ambiguous status as a colonial, negative term that has been reappropriated to undermine notions of purity and essentialism, can be quite problematic. Nevertheless, in its more positive aspects, it can prove to be quite enabling for postcolonial intellectuals like Ananda Devi. Devi expresses this point of view in an interview where she speaks of herself as being ‘hybride dans le bon sens du terme’ (Indes Réunionnaises 2003). This thesis examines Devi’s novels in order to gauge the extent to which these can be read through the lens of hybridity, especially given the recent reference to texts emanating from the Indian Ocean as being hybrid (Hawkins 2007, Prabhu 2007). Chapter One investigates the positive aspects of hybridity that Devi underlines in her interview, namely her ability to use the different cultures and traditions at her disposal in her writing. The chapter demonstrates the linguistic hybridity (Bakhtin 1981) and formal hybridity of the novels, which is the result of Devi’s own upbringing in multicultural society. The subsequent two chapters focus on what can be interpreted as the negative aspects of hybridity. The second chapter explores the psychological dislocations of Devi’s characters who cannot reconcile two identities either because they are made to choose one identity over the other or because they do not have the memory of the ancestral past. This chapter looks at Bhabha’s notion of hybrid identities (1994), in order to determine whether this concept of ‘hybrid identities’ is possible in Devi’s novels. The third chapter explores the concept of hybrid bodies using theories of the grotesque (Bakhtin 1984 and others), suggesting ways in which Devi uses othered bodies in order to undermine the notion of categorised identity and social classification that is prevalent in the Mauritian society she depicts. i Acknowledgements I am indebted to many people without whom this thesis would not have been completed. To my supervisor, Dr Rosemary Chapman, who has been marvellous in all respects and who has provided me with a lot of support and guidance, especially in the last months prior to submission. You have my gratitude forever. To Dr Suzanne Dow, my second supervisor, whose insights have helped with the theoretical aspects of this thesis. To Dr Nicki Hitchcott, under whose supervision I initially started this thesis. To the French Department and the School of Modern Languages for funding my project, as well as my trips abroad to conferences. To the Graduate School for the Travel Prize. To Dr Martin Hagger and the tutorial team at Southwell, Melton and Newark Halls for the support and friendship that helped me reach these final stages. To Dr Eileen Lohka and Ananda Devi, who have shown support and interest in my work over the years. To my friends, old and new, who have demonstrated unwavering support and faith over the last few years, thank you so much. To Cyrielle and Kuldeep for believing in me, to Adriano and Jose, who allowed my last minute printing. To John who helped make sure my thesis was submitted on time. To my brother who told me (finally) that he was proud of me. Above all, to my parents without whom nothing would have been possible. For the faith, the support and the love, I am eternally grateful. This has been a long and fruitful journey and, unfortunately, I cannot mention everyone who has been part of it. You all have my deepest gratitude. ii Table of Contents ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... II TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................ III INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1 HYBRIDITY: HISTORY, REAPPROPRIATION AND CURRENT DEBATES .......................................................... 5 MAURITIUS : A SOCIO-LINGUISTIC HISTORY .................................................................................... 14 A BRIEF REVIEW OF MAURITIAN FRANCOPHONE LITERATURE AND CRITICISM. ........................................ 23 CHAPTER OUTLINES ................................................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER ONE...................................................................................................................... 38 ‘HYBRID CONTEXTS, HYBRID TEXTS?.................................................................................... 38 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 38 TOWARDS A HYBRID LANGUAGE .................................................................................................... 50 THE CHANGING ROLE OF CREOLE IN DEVI’S NARRATIVES. ................................................................... 69 DEVI’S HYBRID TEXT: TOWARDS A DYNAMIC FORM ........................................................................... 85 CHAPTER TWO ..................................................................................................................... 99 INTERROGATING ‘HYBRID’ IDENTITIES: DOUBLING, FRAGMENTATION AND SCHIZOIDS IN DEVI’S NOVELS. ................................................................................................................... 99 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 99 ‘L’INDE ME SCINDE’ (K.THORABULLY): DOUBLING IN LE VOILE DE DRAUPADI AND L’ARBRE FOUET. ......... 108 ‘JE NE SAIS PAS QUI NOUS SOMMES’: FRAGMENTATION IN DEVI’S CREOLE NARRATIVES. ........................ 123 WRITING THE SCHIZOID AND SCHIZOPHRENIA ................................................................................ 146 RETHINKING IDENTITY. .............................................................................................................. 160 CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................ 164 HYBRID BODIES: READING HYBRIDITY THROUGH THE GROTESQUE IN DEVI’S NARRATIVES .......................................................................................................................................... 164 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 164 ‘ALMOST WHITE BUT NOT QUITE’: FERBLANC’S HYBRIDITY IN SOUPIR. ................................................ 172 HYBRIDIZING THE HUMAN AND THE ANIMAL: LANGUAGE AND NAME-CALLING IN LE SARI VERT, LA VIE DE JOSÉPHIN LE FOU AND MOI L’INTERDITE. ..................................................................................... 184 THE HUMAN-ANIMAL HYBRID BODY: TOWARDS AN ETHICS OF HYBRIDITY? ........................................ 198 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................... 208 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 212 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................. 226 ANANDA DEVI .................................................................................................................... 226 SECONDARY TEXTS ............................................................................................................ 226 iii Introduction ‘ *Je+ me perds totalement dans mon propre corps démembré. Pagli. C’est moi.’ (P : 31) ‘*<+ une femme seule qui cherchait un lieu où elle aurait pu se rassembler et redevenir entière et une.’(P : 153) Daya-Pagli, the eponymous character of Pagli (2001) highlights the problems surrounding the negotiation of identity in the society depicted by Ananda Devi. Her yearning for a single identity stems from the inability to construct a stable and coherent Self because of the complex notion of belonging(s) that is prevalent in Mauritian society. Indeed, as the narrator describes the ‘mofines’, the guardians of Hindu traditions in Pagli, the notion of attachment to India is highlighted as Daya-Pagli is burdened with her Indian ancestors’ will. In her own words: ‘elles ont tissé des liens entre ces gens venus d’ailleurs et moi’ (P: 42), while she does not recognise their values as her own nor does she think she owes them anything: ‘je n’avais fait aucun serment d’allégeance à tant d’inconnus’ (P: 43). Daya-Pagli, in the text, remains the only Hindu woman who does not follow the ‘sentier tracé pour *elle+’ (P: 41). The notion of belonging is complicated because Daya-Pagli lives in her own present and seeks a future with a man she loves. Conscious of herself as an inhabitant of an island
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