LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 11 : 11 November 2011
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.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.

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The Indian Counter Narrative in Midnight’s Children

Himanshu Parmar, M.A., M. Phil., NET (JRF)

On Defining Post-colonialism

The decline of the British Empire in the 20th Century marks the rise of new nations and their era of post-colonialism. The term ‘post-colonialism’, at an extremely basic level, connotes the times of colonial nations after they attained their independence from the Western colonizers. “As originally used by historians after the Second World War in terms such as the post-colonial state, ‘post-colonial’ had a clearly chronological meaning, designating the post-independence period” (Ashcroft 186). Independence also marked a ‘power shift’ with the ‘power of representation’ going to the natives who stressed a change in the way they were ‘presented’ by and to the West: the ‘Orient’ was challenged by the East.

Literature included the term ‘post-colonialism’ and initially it was defined as one that re-presents the ‘Orient’ to the West and that too on its own terms. One of the first steps in the direction was to reflect on what colonization cost to the colonized. “Post-colonialism deals with the effects of colonization on cultures and societies” (Ashcroft 186). The most common idea in this framework is that the colonial power had a derogatory impact on the culture and life of the colony and this is not done through sheer force only. On the contrary, this impact is achieved by inculcating a belief in the superiority of the Western culture and the ‘otherness’ of the native culture. Antonio Gramsci used the term hegemony in this context when he reasoned why the ruling class was able to promote its own interests. Post-colonial Literature, it emerges from the discussion, questions the colonial presence in a colony and the discourse generated by the colonizers for their validation in the colony.

Indian Situation

India, post-independence, too shifted into the paradigm of Post-colonialism chronologically. However, it remained an issue of debate if Indian literature too shifted into the same paradigm. Critics are divided over the opinion but there is a consensus over the fact that each text’s features determine its status as a colonial or a post-colonial text rather than the year of composing. In other words, having been composed post-independence is not the criterion for a work to be post-colonial. There are certain qualities which, if present, mark a work as post-colonial.

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

Himanshu Parmar, M.A., M. Phil., NET (JRF)
Lecturer
Department of English
BPS Mahila Vishwavidyalaya
Khanpur Kalan
Sonipat-131305
Haryana
India
himanshuparmar16@gmail.com
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