Mapping location and identity in the works of indian english novelists A study of salman rushdie s midnight s children vikram seth s a suitable boy and amitav ghosh s the shadow lines

Abstract

This thesis examines the context of location in relation to constructs of identity in Salman Rushdie s MC, Vikram Seth s ASB and Amitav Ghosh s TSL. It is contended that articulation of selfhood is achieved through its interaction with narrative constructions of space and these depictions serve to map representations of nation. Writers migrant experiences are shown to have a bearing on the aesthetics and geopolitics of these representations. Even though these texts challenge the reductive processes of homogenization at work in the formation of nationalcultural identities, it is contended that they foreground transnational lifestyles and identities.Some of the questions that the thesis asks are: Does the cultural-geographical location of the writer shape the aesthetics of the work? If so, to what extent? In what ways does the diasporic newlineexperience influence the (re)presentation of mediated and inter-connected spaces? How is a newlinecharacter, who does not share the author s diasporic location and experience, depicted? Do the works cater to a Western readership by presenting a palatable version that is only purportedly transnational? Or, are the writers lapsing into a master narrative of universalism? newlineThe creative paradigm allows for the unfolding of the enigma of identity by the interplay of the questions surrounding place - Where am I and what is my place in the world, which reveals who I am. There are real geographies of social action, as well as metaphorical spaces and sites of power that have to be understood in their own right and in the context of shared loci that come together to construct identity. Thus, a comparative study of the novels is conducted on various registers such as dynamics of space, negotiation of borders and boundaries, delineation of multiple identities and representation of nation via language and history. The thesis argues for newlineaesthetic negotiation of borders across locations that maybe geographic and psychic; in order to grapple with and empower subjectivities.