The Question of Ideology in Amitav Ghosh's the Hungry Tide
The Question of Ideology in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide
The stalwarts of Indian writing in English like Salman Rushdie, Khushwant Singh, Mukul Kesavan, Vikram Chandra, Amitav Ghosh and the like, are writing in a postcolonial space using novel as a means of cultural representation. Their novels are generally assumed to be engaged in postcolonial consciousness but a close study of the thematic range proves that the novels also attempt to universalized humanistic gesture, for human nature and social relationships are as important as the interplay of power and national relationships. Twentieth century novelists were preoccupied with the historic past and the unabated interest of the readers in the novels that depicted the past or that treated some event of national importance having wide repercussions, like the freedom struggle of India. The countrymen’s vitality and their devotion to the cause were amply reflected in the novels of Raja Rao, Mulk Raj Anand and K. A. Abbas in the 1930s and the 1940s; but the most historical event of our age, as is evident from the writings of the Indo-English novelists, was the partition of the Indian subcontinent by the English rulers in the year 1947. The Hindu-Muslim religious and political difference climaxed with this event which led to widespread disturbances. Many novels were written on the theme of Partition, the destruction it brought and the plight of the refugees; but a novel is never a mere recapitulation of historical events. To call Amitav Ghosh’s novel as mere political allegory would be facile. Instead what Ghosh shows is the impact of politics on the lives of ordinary people and human relationships. To do that he uses the historical events as raw material in his novels and The Hungry Tide is one such novel Ghosh wrote at the peak of his powers. This novel is limited to quite a narrow geographical area, i.e., to the Sunderbans in the Bay of Bengal, and perhaps by extension Bengal, and the novelist does this on
The stalwarts of Indian writing in English like Salman Rushdie, Khushwant Singh, Mukul Kesavan, Vikram Chandra, Amitav Ghosh and the like, are writing in a postcolonial space using novel as a means of cultural representation. Their novels are generally assumed to be engaged in postcolonial consciousness but a close study of the thematic range proves that the novels also attempt to universalized humanistic gesture, for human nature and social relationships are as important as the interplay of power and national relationships. Twentieth century novelists were preoccupied with the historic past and the unabated interest of the readers in the novels that depicted the past or that treated some event of national importance having wide repercussions, like the freedom struggle of India. The countrymen’s vitality and their devotion to the cause were amply reflected in the novels of Raja Rao, Mulk Raj Anand and K. A. Abbas in the 1930s and the 1940s; but the most historical event of our age, as is evident from the writings of the Indo-English novelists, was the partition of the Indian subcontinent by the English rulers in the year 1947. The Hindu-Muslim religious and political difference climaxed with this event which led to widespread disturbances. Many novels were written on the theme of Partition, the destruction it brought and the plight of the refugees; but a novel is never a mere recapitulation of historical events. To call Amitav Ghosh’s novel as mere political allegory would be facile. Instead what Ghosh shows is the impact of politics on the lives of ordinary people and human relationships. To do that he uses the historical events as raw material in his novels and The Hungry Tide is one such novel Ghosh wrote at the peak of his powers. This novel is limited to quite a narrow geographical area, i.e., to the Sunderbans in the Bay of Bengal, and perhaps by extension Bengal, and the novelist does this on
Cited: Abram, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. New Delhi: Earl McPeek, 2006. Print. Althusser, Louis. “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses(Notes Towards and Investigation)”. Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. London: New Left, 1971. 159-209. Print. Ghosh, Amitav. The Hungry Tide. New Delhi: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005. Print. Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide.”.Asiatic Vol. iv, no. 4, December, 2010.