Interrogating the Caste System of India in the Work of Rohinton Mistry

  • Asma Siddiqui Jamia Millia Islamia University
Keywords: Gandhi, Caste System, Marginalisation, Indian English literature

Abstract

This study includes textual analysis and interpretation of the work of Rohinton Mistry. The writing of Mistry in this paper is seen through the lens where one critic the idea of “Unity in Diversity”, majorly focuses on the idea of caste differentiation prevailing in India. Although A Fine Balance came out in 1995, the background story is of India’s Emergency in 1975-1977. Choosing this dark period of India’s history, Mistry makes one doubt if all the oppression was always brought to the country from outside? as the major minorities felt like strangers in the dominant narrative of nationalism. This paper is an attempt to understand the dystopic world where the unequal network of power relations gives no hope even to dream of justice or the poetic of utopia.

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Author Biography

Asma Siddiqui, Jamia Millia Islamia University

Asma Siddiqui is currently pursuing her Masters in English Literature from Jamia Millia Islamia. She has been a student of literature since the last six years. She has presented her research papers across several universities during her graduation and post graduation years. An enthusiast to know more about her belonging, she has developed an interest in Muslim Women Writers.The debator has been tagged a great public orator and won many prizes in the respective field.

References

1. Batra, Jagdish. Rohinton Mistry Identity, Values and Other Sociological Concerns. New Delhi. Prestige Books, 2008. Print.
2. Bharvcha, Nilufar. Rohinton Mistry Ethnic Enclosure and Transcultural Spaces. Jaipur. Rawat Publication, 2003. Print.
3. Dirks, Nicholas. Cates of Mind Colonialism and the Making of Modern India. Delhi. Permanent Black, 2002. Print.
4. Kitani, Hiroyuki. Caste System, Untouchability and the Depressed. New Delhi. Manohar Publishers and Distributors, 1997.
5. Parish, Steven. Hierarchy and its Discontents. University of Pennsylvania, 1996.Print.
6. Roy, Anjali, and Meena T Pillai. Rohinton Mistry: An Anthology of Recent Criticism. Delhi. Pencraft International, 2007.Print.
7. Malik, Kenan. Multiculturalism and Its Discontents. Seagull Books, 2014.Print.
8. Mistry, Rohinton. A Fine Balance. Faber & Faber Limited. Print.
Published
2020-11-10
How to Cite
Siddiqui, A. “Interrogating the Caste System of India in the Work of Rohinton Mistry”. Contemporary Literary Review India, Vol. 7, no. 4, Nov. 2020, pp. 63-73, https://mail.literaryjournal.in/index.php/clri/article/view/516.
Section
Research Papers