Indian Postcolonial Literature Flashcards
The Midnights Children
-Analysis-
The single and the many
S. represents entirety I. within himself
tension between him and many– there will always be influence on personal life through collective life
S. struggles to keep entirety of I. inside himself, disentrigates and fails– like India politcally
The Midnights Children
-Analysis-
The unreliability of Memory and Narrative
S. makes a lot of factual errors (Ghandi death)
scared and knows he will make more mistakes in the future
decides to maintain his version of history, because thats how world appears to him
— shows that everyones story is of equal importance and genuine truth not fixed but perspective
hybridity of the satanic verses
celebrates hybridity, impurity, and intermingling
transformation that comes of new
unexpected combinations of humans, cultures, ideas and politicss
Mulk Raj. Anand
I. writer in english
notable for description of poorer castes in traditional I. society
best known for short stories and novels
noted for inside to lives of weak and opressed
analysis of the exploitation
Untouchable
Mulk Raj Anand (1935)
book is personal exp. of aunt
revolves around argument of eradicating the caste
untouchables are excluded from all parts of life
Untouchable
-Analysis-
follows life of the lowest caste
– shows contradictions and systematic oppression in I. society
Bhaka, though intellegent and handsome, forbidden from improving life
– his story challenges the barriers and argues for untouchable
story is revolutionary as it exposes social evil
Magic realism in Midnights children
magical happenings incorporated into real. narrative without question
equal acceptance for extrao. and ord.
Saleem linked telepatically with 1000 other
life mirrors key events of I.
characteristics of magic realism
fantasy and myth in everyday life
s. defy logic
distorted time sequences
matter of fact tone
local folk history
explores issues like racism, sexism and intolerance
Midnight children summary
fictional autobiography historical novel about I. analogy between personal and national identity magic realism historiographic metafiction hybridity style is self-reflexive
Nissim Ezekiel
-The Patriot-
general
1977
written in colloqial I. english
meant to convey serious and patriotic meaning to readers
poet lived during independence, hence alienation
Nissim Ezekiel
-The Patriot-
analysis
perfect poco setting
I. E. shows mimicry/ how they acquired colonizer language
shows how mimicry is vital step towards postcolonization
– even though youth follow trends and he learns english still find a way to Indianize it
all men are brothers– willing to break boundaries and establish unity
Raja Rao
Foreword to Kanthapura
1938 explains that telling has not been easy -- translating I. thinking to E. is hard but E. not fully alien I. can write in E. but not like E. -- I. must become colourful dialect
cannot write in fully I. or E. cause both are part of I., need to appropriate
Kamala Das
An Introduction
reflective and confessional tone
strong remark on patriarchal society and pain of it
medium of writing is unimportant, emotional comfort is important
people asked her not to write in english
emphazises that the language she speaks becomes part of her with all its imperfections
Shaping influences of indian literature
ancient Hindu tradition
impact of Christianity, Islam
three centuries of British rule
Independence/ Partition
Macauleys Minute of education
1835 argued that education in sanskrit and arabic would not be helpful for development
anglicized school curriculum
envisioned a class of Indian blood but english morals
said a single shelf of english lit. more valuable than 1000 native ones
nothing valuable in dialect, no information
inferiority of I.
example of mimicry
