LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 18:2 February 2018
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
         Dr. S. Chelliah, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

Language in India www.languageinindia.com is included in the UGC Approved List of Journals. Serial Number 49042.

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Historical Truth in Salman Rushdie’s Midnights’s Children

P. Shanmugapriya, M.Phil. English


Abstract

Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie deals with India’s transition from British colonialism to independence and the partition of British India. It is considered an example of postcolonial literature and magical realism. The story is told by its chief protagonist, Saleem Sinai, and is set in the context of actual historical events. The style of preserving history with fictional accounts was self-reflexive. This novel is an example of postmodern literature.

Keywords: Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children, magical realism

Absolute Truth, Universal Truth, Narcissistic Narrative

In the post-modern literary tradition, an absence of universal truth replaces prior notions of one absolute truth, in terms of history as well as such notions as identity and society. Just as post-modernism dismantles the concept of absolute truth, Linda Hutcheon’s concept of the “narcissistic narrative” exemplifies the postmodern undermining of prior traditions. The need for a new way of looking at older historical forms makes Midnight’s Children a prime candidate for analysis in terms of narcissistic narrative, providing an example that explores new views of history.

Ultimately, Saleem Sinai, the narrator of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, exemplifies narcissistic narrative, inviting the reader to participate in creating and discovering an alternative to the typical historical traditions of historical truth as merely recorded facts: memory and the process of recalling memories produces individual histories that overlap some aspects of recorded history yet remain unique, individual versions of history.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

P. Shanmugapriya, M.Phil. English
Sri AdichunchanagiriWomen’s College
Cumbum 625516
Tamilnadu
India
shanmugasuresh12@gmail.com

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