LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 18:6 June 2018
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
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         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
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         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
         Dr. S. Chelliah, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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A Holistic Societal Perspective of Amitav Ghosh’s Novels

V. Saravanakumar, M.A., B.Ed., M.Phil.


Courtesy: https://www.amazon.com/Flood-Fire-Trilogy-Amitav-Ghosh/dp/1511368802

Abstract

This study has looked at the societal perspectives of Amitav Ghosh corresponding to the existing discrepancies of India, in the forms of language, culture, tradition, religions, and their practices. It has tried to identify the havoc caused to the Indian societal set up through external war, diplomats who instigate societal threats to demolish Indian societal networks constructed in the form of close families; and it has explored the idea of international conspiracy over destroying the Indian Society in the form of bio-wars evidently seen through the series of Ibis Trilogy and other works of Amitav Ghosh. It looks further to comprehend the defense tactics played by a nation to protect the citizens and the communities in which they live.

Keywords: Amitav Ghosh, The Sea of Poppies, Ecocentrism, Historicism, the Opium War, Japanese invasion of Burma, Feminine sensibility, Ibis Trilogy, Indentured labour

Introduction

Amitav Ghosh specializes in packaging his writings, blending the essence of literary philosophy, politics, current affairs and a glimpse of history in a perfect combination. Being an Indian writer of both fiction and non-fiction he has a profound impact on culture, society and its physical development. Born in Calcutta in 1956, he comes from an army background. His father being a lieutenant-colonel in the Indian army had given him the upper hand to visit many nations like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. He studied in Delhi, Oxford, and Egypt. His teaching experience at various universities in India and the United States had enriched him with abundant exposure. His first job was at the Indian Express newspaper in New Delhi after which he went on to author several fiction and non-fiction books. He currently lives in New York with his wife, and two children. He is a professor of comparative literature at the Queen’s College in the City University of New York and has been contributing as a guest lecturer in renowned universities. His novels are usually the products of interesting ideas or captivating characters that he conceives in his heart and then gives them ample time to develop and evolve into mysterious works that have won numerous prestigious accolades. The first among them The Circle of Reason (1986) won him the Prix Medicis Etrangere, a top literary award of France. His second book, The Shadow Lines (1988) won the famous the prestigious literary Indian award, Sahitya Akademi, in 1990 as well as the Ananda Puraskar, in Calcutta. The Calcutta Chromosome (1995) won the Arthur C. Clarke award for 1997 while The Glass Palace (2000) won the grand prize for fiction at the Frankfurt International e-book award in 2001.

Among his works in non-fiction Countdown (1999), a book on India's nuclear policy, the Imam and the Indians (2002), a collection of several essays on different topics. Other books include Dancing in Cambodia and At Large in Burma (1998), and Countdown (1999. When he felt that his novels were becoming a bit more predictable he decided to push himself to the limit and began spending more time with characters in his mind and the outcome were books such as The Sea of Poppies (2008), River of Smoke (2011) and Flood of Fire (2015) between 2004 and 2015, better known as the Ibis trilogy.

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


V. Saravanakumar, M.A., B.Ed., M.Phil.
Ph.D. Research Scholar (PART TIME)
L.R.G. Govt Arts and Science College for Women
Tirupur 641604
Tamilnadu
India
saravana36350@gmail.com

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