Literary and Cultural Studies (Subject) / The God of Small Things (Lesson)

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• Reception of the Novel published 50 years after Indian Independence it marks a new stage in critical engagements with colonial and Anglo-Indian legacies tendencies to exoticise Roy's person and her book. This exoticisation suggests a fals binarism between 'the West' and an 'Eastern Other'; it also simplifies the subcontinent's cultural diversity and complexity Problem can be seen as a manifestation of Orientalism (E.W. Said): moreover it has been addressed as an example of 'the postcolonial exotic'
• Some Dates in Indian History 1600: East India Company founded in London 1690: Bengal becomes colonial stronghold 1784: Indian Act centralises the expanding British presence in India 1835: Macauly's "Minute of Education" anglicizes the colonial curriculum 1857/58: Inidan Rebellion (Matiny) brutally suppressed 1885: formation of Indian National Congress 1947: Independence, bloody partition of the subcontinent along lines of religion, mass migration and expulsion; Pakistan becomes Muslim country
• Four ways of using the term 'postcolonial' / 'post-colonial' 'post' = after; synonym of 'post independence'⇒historical understanding resisting against colonialism and its after-effects, from the colonial period until today ⇒ political understanding affected and marked by colonialism - during AND after ⇒ thematic understanding cultural materials from countries formerly or currently colonised by modern western imperial powers ⇒ regional understanding
• Hybridity term first used in gardening to denot cross-breading of two species In literary and cultural studies (Homi Bhabha) 'hybridity' commonly refers to the creation of transcultural material products, linguistic expressions (literature), representations and identities in colonial and postcolonial context zones ⇒third space hybridity has potential to criticise/subvert the narratives of colonial power and dominant culture shows that cultural identities and differences (alterity) are not as clear-cut as often imagined deconstructs notions of national authenticity, intrinsic cultural difference or racial purity, this also undermined the coloniser's claims of superiority and right to rule (which is based on notions of absolute difference and hierarchy)        ⇒ Third Space = creative space of articulation, revolt, innovation and negotion
• Context: Syrian Christians one of India's smallest religious minorities; mainly in Kerala complex intermixture of Christian faith with local Hindu social structures founded by apostle St.Thomas legend of St.Thomas remains an integral part of identity after the arrival of the portuguese in 1498, they were pressured to recognize the Pope as God's intermediary on earth in early 19th century the British consolidated their political presence in Kerala Mar Thoma Church, movement since the 1830s, after influence from Anglican missionaries ⇒a central feature of the Syrian-Christian community is their location in a dual process of cultural accomondation and exclusion  ⇒ability to 'blend in' culturally and yet maintain control over their own faith and religios traditions
• Communism in Kerala March 1957: Kerala became the first Indian state to bring a democratically elected communist party to power Marxism has been a feature of Inidan politics since the 1920s and after Independence the Congress Government adopted socialist economis policies the peasant and labour movements of the 1930s were to a great extent the cause as well as the consequense of the emerge of a powerful left wing in politics Congress Socialst Party (CPI) formed in 1934 1964, in conjunction with widening rift beween China and Soviet Union, a large leftist fraction of the CPI leadership split from the party to form the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
• The caste system in India Ancient four-part division of Hindu society, associated with the creation myth of Purusha Hierarchical order:               Mouth = the brahmin (priest class)               Arms = the ksatriyas (The nobles)               Thighs = the vaisyas (the populace)                Feet = the sudras (the servants) Outcaste or Untouchable  (Dalits) were confinde to the bottom numerous subcastes to cater to the growing complexity of society since 1950a it is a constitutional offence to discriminate against low-caste groups still in politics, professions, education, economy etc caste has remainde san important fact of life a central theme in 'The God of Small Things' is the continuation of inequalities based on caste
• Third World Feminism Context of a colonial past, as well as the gender politics of particular religious or regional communities women of color live under condition of double oppression/double colonazation literary theorist and feminist Gayatri Spivak has problematised the relationship between 1st and 3rd world feminism
• Gender Roles in India varying perceptions of gender differences Women's movement since the early 19th century Women's Indian Association (WIA); lobbied for women's greater participation in education and politics (suffrage) nationalist struggle anti-colonial struggle of the 1930s and 1940s post-independence period: more empowering feminist images of women as daughters and workers; drew attention to the social mistreatment of women
• English in Postcolonial India always highly politicized and embattled 18th century: established as the language of colonial administration 19th century: English became a language of formal education and imperial domination August 1947: new constitution singled out fourteen languages, dialects or vernacukars to be official (e.g. Sanskrit, Hindi, Punjabi) 1954: English was officially recognized as an Indian language Today, English is used by 5 percent of India's population, situated mainly in higher education, international business etc.
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• Indian Writing in English focus on anglophone writing menas focus on a small fraction of a broad cross linguistic spectrum in India Problem of defininf Indian Writing In English: ⇒ difficulty of differentiating 'insiders' from 'outsiders' ⇒ variety of diasporic Indian literatures  ⇒ distinction between Anglo-indian Literature (English writers writing about/from India) and Indo Anglican literatuer (Indians writing in English) ⇒ controversy over Indian writers choosing the 'language of the colonizer'
• Genres in 'The God of Small Things' Bildungsroman: characters' development from childhood to adulthood chronology of the narrative memory (ordered) connecting the individual with the political postolonial context: allegorising the struggle for independence and the growth of the newly independent nation Anti-Bildungsroman: charcters 'never grow up' non- linearity of the narrative memory (analepsis/prolepsis, repititious, digressive, triggered by ordinary things) connecting the individual with the political postcolonial context: disillusionment with the ideals and unfulfilled promises of the independent nation state
• Other Generic Influences Indian folk-tale traditions from devotional bhakti literature fairytale drama poetry conventions of the European 'tragic' romance
• Intertextuality in 'The God of Small Things' Estha's recitation of Caesar's accusatory dying speech "Et tu brute" ⇒ words become an omen of his own innocent complicity in Velutha's death Reference to Romeo and Juliet ⇒ forbidden and ultimately fatal cross-caste romance between Ammu and Velutha juxtaposition of Hindu epics (e.g. persormed stories of the Mahabharata) with popular-culture references to cinema, television and marketing
• Patriarchal hierarchies Pappachi's hindrance of a college education for Ammu (38) Ammu's lack of legal status Mammachi's experience of domestic violence (180) Baby Kochamma's humiliation by the men on the trade-union march (80)
• Language and Power: Pappachi's Moth symbolises the act of naming things as an act of "fixing, constraining and thus controlling" meaning (Clarke) Linguistic classification denotes identity and social standing related to practices of colonialism and imperialism who has the power of speech in the society to the extent that their words can decide the fate of Ammu, the Untouchable Velutha or the children
• Norms and Rules vs. Transgressive Strategies Norms: love laws untouchability patriarchal hierarchy religiousness morality Transgressions: cross-caste relationship incest reading backwards hiding things
• Linguistic Transgression Language Play as a strategy of transgressing norms and rules: non standard spelling (lay ter, A life, A lert, A wake etc.) reversed words (POTS/STOP) neologism (stopitted) repetition emphatic capitalism (Orangedrink Lemondrink Man, Estha Alone, Estha Un-Known)
• Hybridity in 'The God of Small Things' takes place on social, political, linguistic, religious etc level challenges notions of identities and cultures as fixed/stable (e.g. questions binaries between East/West or colonizer/colonized) is also reflected on the level of narrative form: written in English but use of Malayalam words and phrases; elements of Western and Hindu culture; quotations of English canonical texts as well as references to the narrative of the Mahabharata
• Stylistic devices in the novel capitalisation of words (Good Sing, Estha Alone) similes, metaphors, personification, imagery typography internal rhyma (viable die-able age) repetition fragmentation of semantic unity and syntax (not young)
• Narrative Structure of the Novel cyclical narrative progression repetitions of images and sensory associations prolepsis, analepsis  ⇒resemblence to poetic texts

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