International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL)

Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2016, PP 126-138

ISSN 2347-3126 (Print) & ISSN 2347-3134 (Online)
www.arcjournals.org

The Impact of Post Colonialism in Amitav Ghosh’s Novels-A Post

Colonial Perspective
Dr. Venkateswarlu Yesapogu, M.A., M.Phil, PhD.
Head, Dept of English, Principal FAC in V.V.&M Degree College,
Ongole, Prakasam D.T., A.P. India
[email protected]

Abstract: Amitav Ghosh meditates upon a core set of issues in all his works, essays and journalism. Each time
he does so from a new perspective, and he is especially concerned with contemporary streams of literary
criticism. The troubled legacy of colonial knowledge and discourse on formerly colonized societies, peoples,
and ideas; the ambivalent relationship to modernity of the so-called developing or „Third „world; the formation
and reformation of identities in colonial and post-colonial societies is meticulously explained in his fiction. In
many of his public pronouncements, Ghosh has disavowed the idea that his work is a representative example of
Post colonialism, or that he is a „post-colonial „writer. Indeed, he has claimed that he does not really know
what the term means. Nevertheless, Ghosh is on friendly terms with many of the critics and theorists who have
done much to define the field, and who in turn acknowledge his work as a crucial index of many of the themes,
issues, and problematic that constitutes the multi-dimensional nature of the post-colonial predicament today. A
critical examination of Amitav Ghosh‟s writing is thus an opportunity not only to ascertain and evaluate his
own predilections and concerns but also to explore the limits and possibilities of post colonialism itself as a
critical practice.
Amitav Ghosh reveals areas of colonial oppression that were not much highlighted earlier along with the much
talked-about topic of the oppression of the poor by local moneylenders. This article in all its satirical
representation critiques on the oppression of colonialism from all the perspective of post colonialism. It reveals
the complicit formulation of post national future within the framework of benign masculinity. Ghosh associates
undesirable nationalism with feminism. However, for my seminar article presentation I have chosen the title
called “The impact of post colonialism in Amitav Ghosh’s novels- A Post colonial Perspective” which makes
an exploration of the impact of post colonialism in the novels of Ghosh which have faced problems and
challenges of contemporary society. However I tried to interpret the nature of this article by observing it from
the various cultural aspects of contemporary Indian society.
Keywords: post colonialism, criticism, theory, reclamation, hegemony, nationality, dichotomy.

1. INTRODUCTION
In the contemporary Indian Literary scenario Amitav Ghosh is the only writer who reflects the truth of
Indian reality. He bears numerous responsibilities in the world of literature. He executes with
admirable aplomb as an anthropologist, sociologist, novelist, essayist, travel writer, teacher and slips
into global responsibility for establishing peace as an ambassador. He has excelled the global literary
standards set by the post colonial and post modern writers like Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Vikram
Chandra, Sashi Tharoor, Arundhati Roy etc. He has become the colossal central socio literary figure
with a substantial body of work drawing the global attention. He has become the only negotiator to
mediate the core social and cultural problems of India and other colonized nations. All his major
works have enjoyed immense academic attention across the globe and it has invited and produced a
great amount of literary criticism. He has created a wide readership and a strong critical endorsement
that reflects the attention of serious academicians and scholars. All the post colonial and post modern
predicaments are wrestled to demonstrate a high level of self consciousness which continues
interrogate the social, philosophical, cultural issues of the world in all its relevance and freshness. His
works have initiated the emergence of critique of nationalism and universalism. His intellectual
insights, conceptual, theoretical and textual experiments have engaged and interpreted the complex
colonial and post colonial situations. They have established a peculiar paradox of reading and
appreciation eloquently responding to the post colonial and post modern issues of evolution and
transformation of the world. Making his debut with The Circle of Reason in 1986, he has produced the

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Dr. Venkateswarlu Yesapogu

ground breaking novels till today with River of Smoke (2011) that interrogate the history of humanity
with discursive discourses. His non fictional writings are equally challenging and stimulating offering
philosophical and cultural elucidation on different themes such as fundamentalism, history of the
novel, Egyptian culture and literature. Despite this vast amount of creative and critical output
surprisingly there is a small amount of critical reception. But his works have become the most
favoured areas of scholarly exploration for many of the young scholars and academicians. These
explorations have become part of unpublished research that focused exclusively on the relevance of
Amitav Ghosh to the contemporary times.
The critical reception on Amitav Ghosh marks a notable divergence of interests between the criticism
of Indian subcontinent and the western academy. Criticism from Indian academics mostly
concentrated on the novels The Shadow Lines, The Calcutta Chromosome that dealt with the
questions of national identity and communalism in the sub continent. There is a note of dissent from
the Indian academics as they positioned themselves on the base of traditional Marxist criticism.
However, these novels had enormous impact on the much debated post colonial issues of nationalism,
identity and the fabricated cultural myths that inflate pseudo nationalism. These texts have become
part of university curriculum paving the way for the instant critical response of the students. Besides,
there emerged some volume of essays reflecting the overwhelming critical negotiations and
interventions breeding other novels The Glass Palace and The Circle of Reason. The Western critical
response is firmly based on exploring the experimental and post modern aspects of culture registered
in divergence and it is almost unanimously enthusiastic.
The extant criticism on Ghosh‟s work has exposed significant socio cultural representations. One of
the concerns is the representation of gender which has become the subject of much critical debate.
The theme of Shadowlines is perceived for the inversion of passive male characters at the expense of
active female characters. The novel in all its satirical representation critiques nationalism from the
perspective of Gender. It reveals the complicit formulation of post national future within the
framework of benign masculinity. Ghosh associates undesirable nationalism with femininity. He
repeats some of the national gestures of portraying women as emblematic figures signifying „culture‟,
„tradition‟, „nation‟ and authenticity. This is precisely a counter argument for the novel‟s gender
politics. In all his other novels there is relatively little debate about the representation of gender and
other issues of sexuality. But as a matter of academic speculation, women have become very
significant presences in all his other works. Examining this aspect, James Clifford in the article „The
transit lounge of culture‟ says that we hear little from women in other novels, but it is only in The
Calcutta Chromosome the women figures emerge as central organizing principle ( Times Literary
Supplement 3 May, 1991). Mangala as the subaltern leader attempts to subvert the discourse of
science articulating an alternate mode of knowledge. The Glass Palace and The Hungry Tide
presented detailed and individualized women characters than Ila and grandmother of The
Shadowlines.
Political implications in Ghosh‟s works are another issue of serious concern. His works are perceived
as the study of material conditions of post colonial experience. They espouse post modern idealism
and elucidate the political realities. A. N. Kaul‟s essay „A Reading of Shadow Lines‟ in The Shadow
Lines (1995) aptly justified this perspective. He has argued that the novels of Ghosh the categories of
human experience as metaphors of contemporary political realities. John Mee in his article „The
Burthen of the Mystery‟ praises the anthropological imagination of Ghosh, which has espoused the
idea of space and time. Thoroughly examining the divisiveness of nationalism, the works of Ghosh
scrupulously examine the enactment of divisive forces of racism, imperialism and class exploitation
from the perspective of Indian nationalism. Another critic Robert Dixon in the essay „Travelling in
the West‟ has argued that In An Antique Land and The Shadow Lines Ghosh has presented an
untheorized and utopian belief of humanity. He characterizes Ghosh‟s writing as an ambivalent
tension between liberal humanism and post modernism. Apart from the post modern response to the
works of Ghosh, his works are also projected as an abdication of political responsibility or refusal to
confront harsh political realities. This perspective is based on the premise that politics requires an
active intervention into the affairs of the world. But what is at stake for Ghosh is viable political
praxis. In the context of globalization, Ghosh works have accelerated multiple contradictions inherent
in post modernity projecting his politics as ambivalent. His politics of ambivalence stand in odd with
an activist vision of politics. The significance of Ghosh‟s politics of ambivalence is in the way it
offers us a means of revising what politics might mean in a globalised, post colonial world.

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The Impact of Post Colonialism in Amitav Ghosh’s Novels-A Post Colonial Perspective

To a greater extent all, the major works of Ghosh resonate with the preoccupations of contemporary
society and culture marshaled under the framework of post modernism. Ghosh exhibits an interest in
the nature and philosophy of language, textuality and the discourses in which human perception and
experience is invariably shaped. For Ghosh the question of „identity‟ is implicated in the
representations of „Self‟. To him identity does not stand alone but it is derived from inborn „essence‟.
Moreover, it is „fashioned‟ by language and representation. From this perception, „identity‟ has
acquired the status of fiction interrogating the material consequences that influence the actions of
humans. The texts of Ghosh interrogating the equivalence of fiction to unreality represent the
correlative view that „identity‟ is unstable and fluid. The very notion that fiction is untrue is part of
the system of knowledge initiated by the intellectual revolution of early modern Europe. As this is
deeply implicated in colonial culture, elucidating the intellectual legacy constitutes the central concern
of Amitav Ghosh. Negating with the „meta‟ or „grand‟ narratives of progress of civilization, Ghosh
has focused on the fragments of human experience that are excluded from the grand designs of
civilization. The generic multiplicity and indeterminacy of his works, splices the contrapuntal
formation, which are associated with popular culture.
It is wrong to characterize the works of Ghosh as unproblematically postmodern. His works have
showed certain affiliations, but there are other affiliations to the context of his works. So, there is a
dire necessity on the part of the reader to execute a peculiar paradox of reading to perceive the novels
of Ghosh. They convey a „sense of place‟ and „sense of dislocation‟ as fictional representations. Our
contemporary contexts of our lives are justifiably conditioned by the reactions to dislocations.
Ghosh‟s extraordinary oeuvre portrays a balanced portrayal of warm location and terrifying
dislocation. This is predicated on the consciousness of one losing the precious lived sense of place as
a catalyst for the emergence of novel. Ghost had evinced a great faith in the evolution of the novel. To
him, the novel bears the writers perception and responsibility in a most appropriate manner. The novel
according to Ghosh has been universal from its evolution. It creates a space for cross cultural reading
and experimental ideas and styles. It is one form of literature founded upon „a myth of parochiality‟.
It is from this vantage point, Ghosh takes upon the responsibility of using history as a tool for fictional
representation.
The imagination of Ghosh is a product of specific histories of the subcontinent and necessarily
diasporic and post colonial. He unveils himself as a world traveler and reveals the identity of every
place with subtle presentations. Cutting across autobiographical resonances, Ghosh permeates
academic antecedents-history, sociology and anthropology. With all his historical research pursuits,
He is concerned with Indian/South Asian diaspora in different regions of the world. He is intrigued by
the inherent fracturedness of diasporic identity. Analysing the space with reference to history, he
travels between cultures and lands with the power of imagination. He retrieves the history of India,
Bangladesh, England, Egypt, Burma, Malaya is his novels. Reiterating the journey of imagination of
the West Indian novelists such as Wilson Harris, Derek Walcott, Ghosh reinvents the ways of
subverting the colonial injustices. He interrogates the burden of colonial past that weighs heavily on
migrant post colonial generation. In all honesty, he churns out a glimpse of „final redemptive
mystery‟. The retrieval of imagination with the objective of subverting the grand colonial history is
employed meticulously by Ghosh in his works.
Ghosh makes an intellectual exploration into the history of marginalized and the contexts of
nationalism, internationalism, migrancy, violence and communalism. He constantly looks for the
ways to render history into fiction and often posits fiction against history. Exploring the human
predicament, he finds the individuals and characters asserting and liberating themselves from the
burden of history. His sensibility of unveiling the nuances of history, sociology and culture makes him
distinctive apart from the bunch of Indian novelists. The Diaspora and displacement are the keys to
understand the thematic concerns of Ghosh. They direct us to explore the contemporary perplexities in
hyphenated identities. The dilemmas of diaspora engendered in the margins of history are fore
grounded in Ghosh‟s fiction. The historical research and exploration becomes secondary to some
extent. Arun P. Mukherjee in Oppositional Aesthetics: Readings from a Hyphenated Space is
concerned with reading the novels of Ghosh as oppositional to the dominant literary and cultural
ideologies of Euro America. But Ghosh‟s intellectual exploration of the major and marginalized
cultures is seen as representation of aesthetics. However, if one accepts the moot point that fiction is a
representative of human history, one can trace the genesis of humane historian. Ghosh as a humane
historian travels between cultures and negotiates for a „third space‟ in social studies. In the

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Dr. Venkateswarlu Yesapogu

contemporary clash of binaries of nationalism, globalization ushers in the erasure of culture and
articulates the absence of culture emphatically. So, when the cultural interaction is confined to
exchanges between national cultures, the inhabitants of the third space oscillate between the dominant
cultures. Nikos Papastergiadis in The Turbulence of Migration (2000) says that Ghosh‟s fiction
negotiates between two lands divided by space and time and attempts to redefine the nuanced
understanding of the past.
2. THE IMPACT OF POST COLONIALISM IN AMITAV GHOSH’S OEUVRE-A CRITICAL
PERSPECTIVE
Out of six novels, all the novels are quintessential postcolonial novels. Post-colonial criticism has
become academically compelling criticism. Post-colonial theory explores the textual criticism of post-
colonial literatures. Frantz Fanon‟s Black Skin White masks (1952) and Wretched of the Earth (1967)
and Edward said‟s Orientalism (1978) and Culture & Imperialism (1993) are considered to be the
promulgators of Post-colonial criticism. These seminal works have strongly recommended the
reclamation of the past of colonized nations only to subvert the hegemony of the colonial nations. Bill
Ashcroft, Gareth Griffith & Helen Tiffin‟s The Empire Writes Back (1989) with a broader cultural
circumscription of all the colonized nations provided a strong base for post-colonial criticism. This is
further continued and consolidated by Gayathri Spivak Chakravarthy In Other Worlds: Essays in
cultural Politics (1988), Homi K.Babha‟s Nation and Narration (1990) and Location of Culture
(1994). These works have interrogated the identities of colonialism. The concocted colonial identities
of Nation, Nationality, and National representations are interrogated and the male cantered
perspectives are demolished. All the six novels that examined for the article engage in the critical
negotiation of past history by Amitav Ghosh. The presentation of past history is with ambiguity. The
ambiguous nature of past history has revealed the dichotomy of the past history as glorious and
inglorious which interface fiction. The usable past becomes the glorious past and the unusable past
becomes the inglorious past.
All these novels need to be examined in understanding the dichotomy of „Colonialism‟. It needs to be
examined in relaxation to „internal colonialism‟ and external colonialism. India is a country, which
suffered from „Internal colonialism‟ since the beginning of its civilization. It continues to suffer from
„Internal colonialism‟ even after the demise of colonial period. Women in India are the victims of
„Internal colonialism‟ as well as the external colonialism. The victimization of women in „Internal
colonialism‟ went on unabatedly in silent acceptance. Post-colonial criticism has also revealed and
questioned the patriarchal mechanism in victimizing women by creating the passive images of
contemporary women. The protagonists in all these six novels are the victims of internal colonialism.
It is only with post-Colonial criticism the issues of confrontation dealt by these works can be
deciphered. The protagonists in all these novels in the process of liberating and defining themselves
tried to establish alternative roles. The protagonist in “Sea Of Poppies” (2008) is confronted by the
horrifying future carrying the burden of innocent past life in India. There is a juxtaposition of the life
spent in India and the life being lived in the northern Bihar. In the process of living in northern Bihar,
she obliterates the conventional images of motherhood. „Sea of Poppies‟ of Ghosh perfectly presents
the juxtaposition between the pre-colonial India and post-colonial India. The very transformation of
the protagonist from a submissive domestic life is rendered in all its appreciation. This obviously
presents the radicalization in the very construction of social identities and positions. The social
maturation in the character provides a space in which the pre-colonial constructions of Nation and
Nationality are interrogated.
In The Imam and the Indian and as well as in In an Antique Land of Ghosh, we see the exploration of
history. Ghosh subscribes to the values of their own culture. The emotions and passions are linked
with their past. These people along with the people from the shared past history from “Composite
Communities”. In The Glass Palace, Ghosh showed the search for her uncle Dinu, Raj Kumar‟s
granddaughter. She seeks to reconstitute her grandfather‟s history and also the history of Aung San
Suu Kyi through Dinu. She visits Burma and peeps into past of her uncle Dinu.
Jaya comes to acknowledge the girlhood and the typical motherhood, looking for her son‟s safety
after the sudden demise of her husband in an accident. Experiencing „others‟ the children of migrants
bear the burden of carrying the past. We are shown through Jaya‟s retrospection and scanned Psyche
that these children carry with them the past history of “origin” of their parents and grandparents and

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The Impact of Post Colonialism in Amitav Ghosh’s Novels-A Post Colonial Perspective

are treated as a secondary citizen even though they are born and brought up here. Jaya feels shattered
when she goes on to search for her uncle Dinu from corner to corner in Burma, when she meets him at
once shading their faces “green with broken eye shadow”, to different ideas for collecting memories
with each other. She is called by name, are you Dinu? I am your niece, daughter of your own brother
Neel granddaughter of Rajkumar and Dolly your parents. Thus, Jaya faces an identity crisis as her
identity is defined in terms of the past history of her parents and grandparents.
In the novel The Glass Palace along with the discussion of colonial rulers and their subjects Queen
Supayalath carries on a discourse that unruly depicts „cruel politics‟. If the Indian princes constitute
the other in the power game between the British and themselves, it is Queen Supayalath who is
symbolic of woman as the other in human relationships. As living in Burma Jaya is brought into light
by the skills of her research. The journey of Jaya‟s research from her childhood to maturity is full of
enriching experiences.
Post-colonial criticism has initiated significant changes in the discourse of nationalism of colonized
countries. It offered genuine criticism of the evolution of the feeling on Nationalism. It has projected
the idea that Nationalism has emerged to check the growth of capitalism and Industrialization. Ernest
Gellner in Nations and Nationalism (1983) observed that Nations are not inscribed into the nature of
things. Nations are like planned things. They are like constructed buildings. The very idea of the
nation is considered to be a myth. Benedict Anderson in Imagined Communities: Reflections on the
Origins and Spread of Nationalism (1983) argues that nations are imagined political communities.
The essential symbols like national flag, national bird, national animal, national anthem that stood for
the significance of nationalism are all prepared cultural artifacts by the so-called pre independent
national leaders.
Post-colonial criticism has also revealed the very cultural strategy involved in identifying the land of
the nation with the body of the women. This is intentionally schemed to incite the sentiments of the
common people. The occupation of their land is projected as the molestation on the dignity of their
woman. The colonial occupation is interpreted on these lines only to invite the participation of the
common people in the so-called struggle for independence. It is pertinent to observe that in the larger
struggle for Independence the very crucial aspect of the Independence of women is excluded. It is
from this perspective Partha Chatterjee in his influential book Nationalist thought and colonial world
(1986) considers nationalism as a derivative discourse. He considers that idea of Nationalism is in
complicit with the elite sections of the society. Post-colonial criticism has also revealed how the
nature and subjectivity of women‟s life is exploited by the national leaders in their struggle for
freedom. Particularly Mahatma Gandhi is understood to have exploited the subjectivity of Indian
womanhood in his methods of staging hunger strike, non-cooperation and non-violent demonstrations.
Gandhi has exactly employed the nature and psyche of Indian womanhood. Post-colonial criticism has
revealed the ways in which the subjectivity of Indian womanhood is exploited like Deeti in Sea of
Poppies (2008) only to further undermine the social positions of Indian women and Gandhi is no
exception in the scheme of Indian patriarchy.
The women protagonists in these novels are the representatives of post-colonial critique of Indian
society. Deeti, Munia, and Paulette in Sea of Poppies and Dolly and Uma in The Glass Palace are the
apt representatives of post-colonial critical spirit. The life related to the mother and daughter weaves
between the pre-independent and post Independent India presenting the glimpses of usable past and
unusable past. The holocaust during the times of partitions strongly signifies the inglorious past.
The post-independence situation which Jaya constructs her life to the level of challenging the
intellectual hegemony of researcher is nothing but the obliteration of all the imposed social roles. The
self-affirmation that Deeti exhibits reveals the true colour of colonial intrigues that multiplied gender
inequality and discrimination.
Ghosh‟s The Hungry Tide is also a quintessential post-colonial novel. Moreover, the theme of Sea of
Poppies perfectly suits the post-colonial propositions as it presents the position of Indian women in
pre-Independent and post-Independent situation of India. The colonial and the social displacement of
Indian nobility and the kingly class in Dancing in Cambodia, at Large in Burma is well crafted within
the post-colonial critical framework. One of the protagonists in The Glass Palace Jaya displays the
required wisdom to understand British colonialism better than the other male characters. In the male
dominated culture of The Hungry Tide and Sea of Poppies Piya and Deeti, win the legitimacy to
inherit the rule purely on their own. In this process, they overcome the conventional hurdles of

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Dr. Venkateswarlu Yesapogu

Kabutri, the daughter of Deeti and Tutel, son of Fokir considered as the natural heir to Fokir and
heiress to Deeti. Princess Soumphady becomes the true representative of Indian Culture by ably
implementing the dancing lessons and principles of ruling the nation after the King Sisowath.
Enacting the conventional role of wife and as well as mother, Deeti upholds the dignity of the Indian
culture by disallowing the cunningness, cruelty and perverted intrigues of Chandan Singh who is a
colonial representative. She also realizes that the ultimate legitimacy to rule the nation rests with the
„people‟ and obliterates the patriarchal authority. The way Deeti registers protagonism is the way,
which unravels the intrigues of conventional images and symbols meant for manufacturing the so-
called pseudo nationalism. Post-colonial criticism of the nationalism of colonized nations finds
sagacity in the very interpretation of Amitav Ghosh‟s Sea of Poppies.
Colonialism had condemned millions to a life of subservience and dispossession. At this juncture, the
anti-colonial nationalisms promised a new dawn of independence and political self-determination for
colonized people. In the twentieth Century, the myth of nation has proved highly potent and
productive during several struggles against colonial rule. Under the development of created
constructed myths, the nation became highly mobilized as a powerful symbol, which anti-colonial
movements used to organize against colonial rule.
The colonial rule has dismantled the political structures of many nations and the worst hits were the
countries of the South Asian region. Many countries had become the British colonies. In the South
Asian regions, it was India, Burma and Malaysia that suffered from the colonial oppression. These
countries are known for their rich cultural heritage, richest natural resources and abundant wealth.
The British intrusion into these lands in the name of business exemplified the strategy of colonialism.
However, the intrusion into the serene lands had no effect on the part of the commoner. In fact, the
commoner thought that the colonial rule came as a liberating agency from that of the monarchical
rule, which they are facing. Especially in Burma, the commoner had developed an aversion towards
their King Thebaw and the Queen Supayalat. The opening chapters of The Glass Palace reveal the
aversion of the Burmese crowd towards their superior authority. “Through all the years of the
Queen‟s reign the townsfolk had hated her for her cruelty, feared her for her ruthlessness and
courage” (34). The looting of the King‟s palace by the Burmese Public clearly shows their aversion.
When the British had seized Thebaw from power, it was the public who has to lend the support
through difficult phase of time. Instead of that, they turned against him and they indulged in looting
their own King‟s Palace. The King has failed as a good ruler. That was the reason why they
considered the British as the liberating agency. It is here the question of state comes into light. In the
countries, which are governed by the state, people develop a sense of looking after the well-being of
each and every individual. This tendency provides source of revenue for its people and sets the
standards of living. By doing so, the state gains a perfect control over its people and the social
hierarchy runs with perfection. But if the state fails in providing livelihood and other necessities for its
people, it loses control over them and hierarchy gets dissolved.
The British intrusion into Burma had changed everything. Thebaw lost his power and so the Queen.
Their own people had looted their palace. It was a huge humiliation for the royal couple. They never
noticed the growing unrest in the public of their rule. When the British came into the land the crowd
seized the opportunity to sneak into the palace. Until the British arrival, no commoner in the country
had dared to enter into the palace. They knew that it would result in summary execution. But now
everything has changed. The King and the Queen were thrown out of power. The Queen‟s reaction
when she saw the mob inside their palace shows her impotence.
The King and the Queen along with trusted servants were shabbily been discarded from the country to
a remote coastal village in India. No one in the country felt sorry for their eviction from the country. It
was the colonial rulers ploy in exiling the King‟s family from their own land in order to erase them
completely from the public memories. Earlier, the Indian Mughal King, Bahadur Shah Zafar too was
exiled in the same manner. The colonial rulers exiled him to Rangoon from India.
The colonial rule has a huge affect on the members of the elite group in Burma as well as in India.
Prior to the British occupation, they had a strong food hold in the country. But now they have lost
their grip on the soil. In order to raise their voice against the colonial rule their number is limited and
they needed the support of all the people. Until then, they never considered the other people and the
social hierarchy had created a great abyss between them and the subaltern people. “Many once
colonized nations have struggled with the internal differences that threaten the production of national

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The Impact of Post Colonialism in Amitav Ghosh’s Novels-A Post Colonial Perspective

unity” (McLeod: 2000). The term „Subaltern‟ is used to signify the many different people who did
not comprise the colonial elite. The colonial elite includes, the lesser rural gentry, impoverished
landlords, rich peasants and the upper middle class peasants.
The production of a unified imaginary community became nationalism‟s greatest strength. The
nationalist elite claims that their „modern‟ attitudes are coterminous which „popular consciousness‟
and enjoy the support of the people, deemed to be a unified singular entity sharing the same political
aims. The myth of the nation functions as a valuable resource in uniting people to raise their voice
against the pangs of colonialism. It worked against the differences created out of gender, racial,
religious, dialectical and cultural differences.
It is obvious that the British occupied Burma and India resulted in creating a sense of Nationalism.
Prior to the British arrival, there were differences in people. However, the arrival of the British has
changed everything. The internal differences were set aside and the idea of nation had been created. In
Paul Gilroy‟s Words, opines:
...through elaborate Cultural, ideological and political processes which culminate in feeling of
connectedness to the other national subjects and in the idea of a National interest that transcends
the supposedly petty divisions of class, region, dialect or caste‟ (1993:49)
Ghosh‟s Dancing in Cambodia, At Large in Burma is the third essay in the book, “At Large in Burma
is another study of the „self‟ of Aung San Suu Kyi. She is reflected on the author‟s three meetings.
The way Suu Kyi has constructed her „self‟, fashioning herself to the circumstances of Kings of
Burma and the British is similar to the life of Queen Elizabeth who made her „self‟ as the ultimate
image of England. Suu Kyi learns the required intrigues to rule her nation almost undaunted by the
destruction of her family life. Imbibing the machivellian spirit, she disallows the dominace of British,
as well as her father‟s opponents, by conquering the barrier of gender. Suu Kyi‟s personal history
becomes the history of her nation.
All the novels of Amitav Ghosh have cross-cultural interactions. The definition of culture itself is
divided in its significance, since the term is open to a variety of interpretations. (Raymond Williams
Culture and Society, 1780-1950.254). But as Gerald Graff and Burce Robbins observes: “the conflict
between culture in the anthropological sense and culture in the normative sense leads to a thrifts way
of using the term, one that refers neither to a people‟s organic way of life nor to the normative values
preached by leading intellectuals but to a battle ground of social conflicts and contradictions” (255).
(Gerald Graff and Burce Robbins Cultural Criticism Redrawing the Boundaries, ed Stephen
Greenblatt and Giles Gunn. 1996:421).
It is this lived experience of cultures that from the “textual sites” of Amitav Ghosh‟s The Imam and
the Indian. In his work, he foregrounds the experiences of a colonial domination forced to confront
her marginalization within his own (Indian) culture, while attempting to forge an identity with in alien
(American, England) culture, both of which are entrenched in patriarchal ideology delineating
Ghosh‟s attempt at negotiating the cultural and ideological divides. Amitav Ghosh provides for the
contradictory interactions of culture, ideology, and identity on behalf of post colonialism.
Amitav Ghosh‟s The Imam and the Indian also portrays multicultural theme. The characters are
caught in the web of multicultural entanglements. Living with objectivity and compassion these
immigrant characters mostly struggle for identity and commitment to life in the multicultural milieu
of Afganistan, Bengal, Khabul, Burma and the beyond. We find most of the first generation migrants
facing cultural dilemma and trying their best to retain cultural identity and cultural practices in their
beliefs and values. John McLeod in Beginning Post-colonialism observes, “these beliefs, traditions,
customs, and values along with their “possessions and belongings” are carried by migrants with them
when they arrive in “new places”. The clash between their values and beliefs of their own culture and
concept of “home” and their beliefs baffle in old Egypt when Ghosh went for research. However,
among the second generation these emotional links are loosened as we see in the life styles of old
Egypt‟s villagers. The natural school of criticism that comes to the fore to analyse the themes of
Amitav Ghosh‟s novels are under colonial literary criticism. It has circumscribed the contemporary
Indian fiction.
John McLeod in Beginning Post-colonialism-(2000) says that first world Feminism is confined to
Europe, America and Australia. Second World Feminism is confined to Soviet Union and communist
allies Feminism. Third World Feminism is confined to the Africa and under developed South Asian

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Dr. Venkateswarlu Yesapogu

Countries. Though this is an unhappy generalization, it has proved the limitations of the first and
former classifications of Feminism. In order to bring in the legitimacy to the classifications in
Feminism, Kirsten Holst Peterson and Anna Rutherford have introduced the concept of „double
colonization‟ in A Double Colonization‟ Colonial and Post Colonial Women‟s Writing(1986). This
refers to the ways in which women have experienced the oppression of colonialism.
The Feminist writers tried to stamp their authority in a colonial dominated environment as best as it is
possible to them. It was a very difficult path, as the Indians had to break through years of colonial
dominance, taboos and beliefs that had heavily impregnated the society. In addition, critics argued
that colonialism operated very differently for women and for men. This was so because women were
subjected to both general discrimination as colonial subjects and specific discrimination as women
addressed as „double colonization.‟
It is from these perceptions one should view the contribution of women writers of the nineties like
Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande, Gita Mehta, Gita Hariharan, Bharati Mukherjee, Uma Vasudev and
Arundhati Roy. Undoubtedly, it is understood that they have perceived a good job in exposing the
fallacies of the male –dominated society and letting the public beware of the various atrocities heaped
upon women who dared to cross the various rigid boundaries that were laid on them by society. The
novels of Amitav Ghosh like The Glass Palace, Dancing in Combodia at Large in Burma, In an
Antique Land, The Hungry Tide and Sea of Poppies 2008 have beyond a shadow of doubt, been
successful in opening the reader‟s mind and heart to view the life of a woman from a women‟s point
of view.
The debate in several colonized societies over the deleterious effects of gender or colonial oppression
on women‟s lives continues to hold its significance in the analysis of the society. Feminism, like post
Colonialism, is concerned with the ways to which representation and language were crucial in order to
identify the formation and construction of subjectivity. Both for the patriarchal as well as the
matriarchal community, language was crucial in order to identify formation and for the construction
of subjectivity. Language subverts patriarchal power and brings more authentic forms for negotiating
gender equality.
All these novels of Amitav Ghosh like Dancing in Cambodia at Large in Burma, In an Antique Land,
The Imam and the Indian, The Glace Palace, The Hungry Tide and Sea of Poppies subscribe to the
aspects of narratology and carry the innovative techniques of narration. The themes of all these novels
are under Post-colonialism in between the past and present with history interface contemporary issues
and methods of narration.
3. CONCLUSION
To understand the significance of Amitav Ghosh, one should travel beyond the paradigms of
Commonwealth literatures. In fact, the classification of Commonwealth has become conventional on
the lines of mainstream literatures. One should sincerely acknowledge the contribution of Amitav
Ghosh in saving the literature of Commonwealth countries from becoming pedantic and pedagogic.
Ghosh is responsible for bringing in the continental themes such as immigration, revisioning history,
anthropology, sociology and the disciplines of knowledge. It is with the scholarly intervention of
Ghosh, there has been a great change in the very perception of the disciplines that formulate and
influence the evolution of the society. He has diverted the attention of the literature of the third world,
from being occupied with problems of discrimination inflated by colonialism. As a result, there is a
shift from African, Caribbean, Latin American, South African literatures to South Asian literatures. It
is only with the scholarly excavation of Ghosh, the entire history of Colonial history of South Asia is
being redrawn and reassessed from the socio literary telescopic reflection of Ghosh.
Ghosh has become universally popular for interlocking and striking stories. Underscoring a sense of
vocation, he brings in sociological, anthropological academic excellence for his narrations. His
narrations show an evidence of careful and scholarly observation of the cultures with an implied deep
philosophical investigation regarding the sagacity of humanity. He takes immense delight in creating
and shaping the characters with all stylistic devices and extraneous academic investigation. Ghosh has
revolutionized the faculty of imagination. He has stretched the horizons of imagination to the farthest
extent even beyond the ability of imagination. His imaginative exploration has almost redrawn the
geography of South Asian region.

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The Impact of Post Colonialism in Amitav Ghosh’s Novels-A Post Colonial Perspective

Assisted by anthropological investigation, Ghosh tries his best in retrieving the Colonial history of
South Asia with the objective of rectifying the imbalances in the cultural formation and evolution of
the society. As a historian, Ghosh tries to recuperate the remnants of past history, but fails to provide
chronological accuracy almost on the lines of West Indian and Latin American writers. The dire
necessity to provide a chronological shape to the South Asian history makes him to depend on
imagination exploration. This has made him a renowned writer for re-membering and piecing together
the disjointed pieces. As his works are pre eminently immersed in history, there is a sudden surge in
the critical reception showered on him. Critics have extracted historical, political, anthropological,
sociological and cultural nuances from his writings and his personal opinions and interviews have
become immeasurable sources for perfectly interpreting the global culture.
In one of the interviews to Mary Gray Davidson, the producer of American radio programme, Ghosh
has refused to identify himself with the „common ground‟. In another interview with Calcuttaweb. He
wished for protecting the artistic freedom of all writers with a sense of individualty. Giving his
opinion with Michelle Caswell, he expressed his immense faith in the ability of the novel as a Meta
form that transcends the boundaries between history, anthropology and journalism. Justifying his
choice of becoming a novelist, he opined that his fiction is about the evolution of making of unmaking
of the communities. But despite his emphasis on the remaking of communities, he focus on the
individuals has become the locus for change. He firmly believed that this has made him to be
occupied with the issues of marginality, exclusion and the process of „othering‟. When post colonial
perception has claimed the closure of the battling on the process of „Othering‟, Ghosh has made the
war serious and almost fresh providing space for debating more crucial issues that questioned the
foundation of South Asian societies.
The diasporic imagination of Amitav Ghosh has helped him in wrestling with the aspects of
multiculturalism and the yokes of violence that marred distant identities. Ghosh‟s diasporic
imagination has become inevitable in understanding history and legitimizing imaginative rendering of
South Asian history. His impressive oeuvre has triggered reconciliation between literary imagination
and formidable political consciousness. This has become a defensive mechanism in protecting the
Indian writers in English that they are politically irresponsible. So, the burden of the Indian writer is
further weighed by the responsibility of solving the postcolonial contexts.
The attempt of this article is to bring together multiple interpretations and elucidations of Ghosh‟s
best-known works, as the response of literary criticism is proliferating across the world. Over the last
one year, there are umpteen critical perspectives gushing out like a volcano which have become
inevitable part of academic syllabus in every institution of higher research and learning. For obvious
reasons literature needs to percolate and foment our consciousness and hence are the provocative
readings of Ghosh‟s fiction. In this direction, the article overcomes the limitations of critical
perspectives and offers a scrupulous understanding of Ghosh to the best possible extent.
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Dr. Venkateswarlu Yesapogu

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AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY
Dr.Venkateswarlu Yesapogu awarded his PhD degree in (2012) in the
contemporary Indian fiction at the Acharya Nagarjuna University,
GUNTUR, Andhra Pradesh, India, his M.A., M.Phil, also happened in the
English literature. He is now teaching English Literature and Phonetics in
V.V. &M. Degree College. He became the youngest Principal FAC by virtue
of seniority among existing staff since 2009. His teaching is on main research
interests including teaching of Phonetic Science as well as communication
skills. He has recently published two books. The first entitled “The Fictional
World of Amitav Ghosh” with ISBN 9789382186397; the second entitled “The Feminist Perspective
in Amitav Ghosh’s Oeuvre” and published several other articles in reputed international journals. He
has participated National and International seminars/conferences.

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