(Re)construction of ‘History’ as a form of Subaltern Politics in Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome

This paper deals with Amitav Ghosh’s novel The Calcutta Chromosome, which aligns with the postmodern approach towards history as a form of hegemonic construction by people in power. It thus reflects on history’s prospects of being a meta-narrative that acknowledges the knowledge formation system as...

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Auteur principal: Rahman, Rabita
Format: Online
Langue:anglais
Publié: Harvest: Jahangirnagar University Studies in Language and Literature 2023
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Accès en ligne:http://journals.juniv.edu/index.php/har/article/view/72
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author Rahman, Rabita
author_facet Rahman, Rabita
author_sort Rahman, Rabita
collection OJS
description This paper deals with Amitav Ghosh’s novel The Calcutta Chromosome, which aligns with the postmodern approach towards history as a form of hegemonic construction by people in power. It thus reflects on history’s prospects of being a meta-narrative that acknowledges the knowledge formation system as a form of sociocultural-political domination and endorses progressive politics. In this paper, I argue that Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome highlights the power-play hidden underneath authoritative history and reflects on people’s undocumented, quiescent experiences vis- à-vis the subaltern status quo. To carry out his objective to re/deconstruct history’s position as “master narratives” (Jameson 148), Ghosh uses the silence and secrecy of the subaltern group presented in the novel as tools of resistance against this dominant role of history that mostly favours the privileged and powerful. This research, using the framework of postmodern historicity and subaltern consciousness, critically analyzes how this treatment of history shows the “inadequacy of elitist historiography that follows directly from the narrow and partial view of politics to which it is committed by virtue of its class outlook.” (Guha 39) Through exploring the politics of silence in the novel embodied by the Dalit people, it finally shows how the self-imposed secrecy practised by this group in The Calcutta Chromosome reverses Western epistemology’s disregard for scientific and medicinal practices by the Orient and reclaims its role in history
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spelling ojs-722024-11-18T04:38:14Z (Re)construction of ‘History’ as a form of Subaltern Politics in Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome Rahman, Rabita History Hegemonic construction Subaltern resistance Politics of silence This paper deals with Amitav Ghosh’s novel The Calcutta Chromosome, which aligns with the postmodern approach towards history as a form of hegemonic construction by people in power. It thus reflects on history’s prospects of being a meta-narrative that acknowledges the knowledge formation system as a form of sociocultural-political domination and endorses progressive politics. In this paper, I argue that Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome highlights the power-play hidden underneath authoritative history and reflects on people’s undocumented, quiescent experiences vis- à-vis the subaltern status quo. To carry out his objective to re/deconstruct history’s position as “master narratives” (Jameson 148), Ghosh uses the silence and secrecy of the subaltern group presented in the novel as tools of resistance against this dominant role of history that mostly favours the privileged and powerful. This research, using the framework of postmodern historicity and subaltern consciousness, critically analyzes how this treatment of history shows the “inadequacy of elitist historiography that follows directly from the narrow and partial view of politics to which it is committed by virtue of its class outlook.” (Guha 39) Through exploring the politics of silence in the novel embodied by the Dalit people, it finally shows how the self-imposed secrecy practised by this group in The Calcutta Chromosome reverses Western epistemology’s disregard for scientific and medicinal practices by the Orient and reclaims its role in history Harvest: Jahangirnagar University Studies in Language and Literature 2023-05-31 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Conference Proceedings Submission application/pdf http://journals.juniv.edu/index.php/har/article/view/72 Harvest: Jahangirnagar University Studies in Language and Literature; Vol. 38 No. 1 (2023); 75-84 eng http://journals.juniv.edu/index.php/har/article/view/72/49
spellingShingle History
Hegemonic construction
Subaltern resistance
Politics of silence
Rahman, Rabita
(Re)construction of ‘History’ as a form of Subaltern Politics in Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome
title (Re)construction of ‘History’ as a form of Subaltern Politics in Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome
title_full (Re)construction of ‘History’ as a form of Subaltern Politics in Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome
title_fullStr (Re)construction of ‘History’ as a form of Subaltern Politics in Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome
title_full_unstemmed (Re)construction of ‘History’ as a form of Subaltern Politics in Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome
title_short (Re)construction of ‘History’ as a form of Subaltern Politics in Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome
title_sort re construction of history as a form of subaltern politics in amitav ghosh s the calcutta chromosome
topic History
Hegemonic construction
Subaltern resistance
Politics of silence
topic_facet History
Hegemonic construction
Subaltern resistance
Politics of silence
url http://journals.juniv.edu/index.php/har/article/view/72
work_keys_str_mv AT rahmanrabita reconstructionofhistoryasaformofsubalternpoliticsinamitavghoshsthecalcuttachromosome