Colonial Karma: The Problem of Action in the Indian English Novel

Rege, J.

Colonial Karma tracks the Indian English novel from its colonial origins to the present, each chapter focusing on a particular historical moment. Linking the novel's development with that of Indian cultural nationalism, it argues that nationalism seeks to solve the problem of action for its middle-class subject by redefining the Bhagavad-Gita's concept of karma for political purposes. Two figures serve to exemplify this problem: Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita and Saleem in Midnight's Children . After considering influential early novels in Indian languages, Colonial Karma discusses novels in English by Narayan, Anand, Rao, Anita Desai, Salman Rushdie, Shashi Deshpande and Githa Hariharan.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2004-12-16

Format: Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9781403964007

DOI:

Dimensions: 235cm x155cm

Pages: 208