A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON COMPLEXITIES OF CULTURAL AND NATIONAL SENTIMENTS THROUGH AMITAV GHOSH’S THE SHADOW LINES AND ROHINTON MISTRY’S A FINE BALANCE

LITERATURE

This paper revolves around the cultural complexities and national sentiments of the contemporary period. It deals with the idea of cultural hybridization and the failure of socio-psychological, cultural, and political boundaries to include all the members of society equally. Amitav Ghosh’s The Shadow Lines and Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance act as a critique of Nationalism and Emergency, as they emerge from the lived experiences of the characters. The paper raises the question if partition was a solution to social and religious unrest or whether it brought the concept of forced migration. The idea of nation began with French Revolution in 1789, wherein it believed nation to be a territory divided by national soil followed by the idea of Nationalism which aimed at having territorial nationalism wherein humankind was divided on a belief that individuals of particular territory should share a common national identity followed by the period of emergency which brought in the concept of beautification in terms of social, cultural, and economic growth. Amitav Ghosh as a writer focuses on historical fiction although he does not indulge in border activities but exhibits complex cultural complexities. Rohinton Mistry on the other hand focused on post-partition era followed by the period of Emergency. His idea on national sentiments is characterized as fragmentation since he migrated to Canada and returned to India through themes and subject matter in all his works. Both the writers through their characters focused on the themes of identity crisis, alienation, dislocation, and suffering at full length. The paper aims at analyzing the contemporary scenario and comprehending the multiplicity of cross-cultural interactions with relevance to the post-modern period and homogenization. The paper questions the presence of convolutions brought in by the concept of cultural imperialism leading to multiculturalism and cultural pluralism followed by a sense of up-rootedness and uncertainty which emerged due to cultural and political unrest. The paper further questions a quest for identity and existential crises due to political boundaries and cultural segregations leading to cultural pluralism. It fathoms cultural and political complexities as a result of nation and nation-building as a part of collective consciousness and advanced capitalism. The paper limits itself by comprehending the novels through the theory of Indian Nationalism and by enunciating the idea of cultural shock and political diversions as a result of Nationalism followed by emergency. The paper can further be used by the researchers in performing a post-modern comparative study between 2 novels in the name of nation-building.

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