Escaping the Specter of Postcoloniality: A Non-Postcolonial Reading of Ksudhito Pashan and Ek Aadim Ratri Ki ehak Arnab Dutta &

Judhajit Sarkar Undergraduate 3rd year Department of Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University Abstra t! "his paper aims to #ook at $abindranath%s &'sudhito (ashan% )*+,-, .S *3/01 and (hanish2arnath $enu%s &3k Aadim $atri 'i 4ahak%)*,561, t2o e#ebrated and eventua##y anoni7ed short stories 2ithin their respe tive #anguage8 u#tures, in order to s rutini7e 2hether the riti a# too#s provided by &post o#onia#ism% app#ies to them at a##9 "he se#e tion is in no sense arbitrary given the strong interte:tua# re#ationship these t2o stories share 2ith Amitav ;hosh%s The Calcutta Chromosome, an evident#y &post o#onia#% e:amp#e of <ndian fi tion in 3ng#ish9 "he historiographi proje t embedded in the narrative stru ture of ;hosh%s nove# is to interrogate the o#onia# truth by digging under the surfa e of the #ate nineteenth entury ma#aria# resear h in Ca# utta #ed by the .ritish physio#ogist $ona#d $oss, thereby produ ing a & ounter8history% by means of imp#ementing the narrato#ogi a# strategies made avai#ab#e by &magi 8rea#ist% te:ts9 ;hosh as 2e## as many of his riti s have #aimed time and again that The Calcutta Chromosome has many grounds of ommona#ity 2ith the t2o ear#y <ndian short stories mentioned in the tit#e of this paper9 ;iven this, the present paper 2ou#d try to e:amine in retrospe t the preo upations of both $abindranath and &$enu% in the t2o aforesaid short stories, thus reiterating 4eenakshi 4ukherjee%s ontention that for <ndian 2riters 2riting in 3ng#ish there is no getting a2ay of the burden of &<ndianness% and the irresistib#e pu## to2ards homogeni7ation )or one might say, after Spivak, museumi7ation1 of the rea#ity at home9 "his paper 2ou#d a#so try to sho2 vis8=8vis Jameson%s infamous argument that &a## third 2or#d #iteratures>are ne essari#y nationa# a##egories% that the &e:perien e of o#onia#ism and imperia#ism%, essentia##y &post o#onia#ist% imperative, has never been a entra# preo upation for <ndian 2riters 2riting in the <ndian #anguages having more omp#e: and onvo#uted rea#ities at home to dea# 2ith9

!la idea de "ue una literatura de#e definirse por los rasgos diferenciales del pa$s "ue la produce es una idea relati%amente nue%a& tam#i'n es nue%a y

ar#itraria la idea de "ue los escritores de#en #uscar temas de sus pa$ses( -)orges* El escritor argentino y la tradici+n* ,-./( 0!the idea that a literature must define itself #y the differential traits of the country that produces it is a relati%ely ne1 one* and the idea that 1riters must seek out su#2ects local to their countries is also ne1 and ar#itrary()orges* 3he argentine 1riter and tradition* ,-./4 5ollo1ing this it might not fall out of conte6t to ask 0perhaps self-refle6i%ely to a certain e6tent4 ho1 and since 1hen this ne1 and ar#itrary idea that literature must al1ays #e characteri7ed #y the amount of local colour it has #een a#le to internali7e #egan to #e considered as the standard critical norm( Almost t1o decades after )orgess ca%eat that 1hat is truly nati%e can and does dispense 1ith local colour 5redric 8ameson* one of the foremost ar6ian literary critics of our times* "uite strongly contended that all third-1orld te6ts are necessarily! national allegories 0italics in the original4( 3he principle concern of this paper is to scrutini7e %is-9-%is the t1o short stories mentioned in the title* 1hat kind of te6ts could ha%e made 8ameson 0or* for that matter* e%en others thinking in his manner4 to strait2acket all literatures produced in 1hat he names the third-1orld into the singular category of national allegories( 3here are* of course* se%eral layers 0as often happens in case of an allegory:4 in this phrase un%eiling 1hich might indeed #e necessary for us in order to grasp #etter the #roader political agenda that under1rites its usage and also* in order to understand )orgess 1arning and connect it 1ith that of 8amesons( )ut* first* some 2ustifications for our title( 3o #egin 1ith* 1hy Non-Postcolonial; E%en if ones intention is to argue against the discursi%e method suggested #y Postcolonialism* doesnt the use of such a negati%e category tend to distort much of the essence of the argument itself almost in the same fashion 1hen a do1nright anti-colonialist situated outside the <est designates his=her spatial location as non-1est; 3he ans1er 1ould #e: yes( )ut our purpose #ehind employing the term nonpostcolonial is a rather simple and 1e 1ould like to imagine* a politically safe one( All that it tries to suggest is that as students of literature it is not possi#le for us to remain #lind to a critical position much in %ogue 1ithin the realm of literary studies the 1orld o%er& e%en in order to turn it around it is imperati%e* as >ayatri Spi%ak 1ould say* to enter its protocol( 3his can %ery 1ell #e conceptuali7ed #y "uoting the a6iomatic e6pression one comes across in Amita% >hoshs The Calcutta Chromosome* a te6t 1e use in the conte6t of this paper as a connecting thread #et1een Ra#indranaths

Ksudhito Pashan and Phanish1ar Nath Renus Ek Aadim Ratri Ki ehak( ?n one of the most dramatic moments in the no%el one finds urugan saying in an almost philosophi7ing fashion* im#ued 1ith a deep postcolonialist o%ertone* that the only 1ay of escaping the tyranny of kno1ledge is to turn it on itself( ?n a nutshell* this particular contention can also #e said to form the cru6 of the 1hole pro2ect undertaken #y >hosh in The Calcutta Chromosome @ to interrogate an esta#lished colonial truth #y turning it on its head. Aur "uestion* of course* is 1hy does one need to take so much trou#le at all and 1hen it has #een taken 1hat are the processes of te6tuali7ation that one follo1s; <e 1ould return to this point shortly( Suffice it to say here that our usage of the term non-postcolonial is informed #y a desire to mo%e a1ay from the critical locus made popular #y Postcolonialist theory as* in our estimation* its approach is essentially reductionist 1hen it comes to reading as 1ell as 1riting a particular te6t( ?n order not to run the risk of #eing 2udgmental 1e 1ould try our #est to remain at a distance from the domain of 1riting #ut #ecause reading and 1riting are in many 1ays mutually complementary processes there might still occur some occasional o%erlaps and for that 1e e6press our apologies at the %ery outset( Ra#indranaths Ksudhito Pashan 0,B-C* Shra#on ,DE/4 and Renus Ek Aadim Ratri Ki ahak 0,-.,4 are #oth highly cele#rated te6ts 1ithin their language-cultures* )angla and Findi respecti%ely( 3here is almost no point of con%ergence #et1een these t1o stories in terms of plot* theme and motif( 3herefore* the selection of them as our points of reference might seem #affling( Ksudito Pashan narrates on 1hat can #e called a self-referential plane the e6periences of a Babu in a place named )arich 1here he 1as appointed #y the Ni7am of Fydera#ad to collect the ta6 of cotton( 3here is a comple6 narratogical pattern 1ithin the story* s1itching continuously #et1een t1o first person narrators and there#y* creating no illusion of o#2ecti%ity and al1ays reminding the reader that 1hate%er he=she is reading is narrated from a su#2ecti%e standpoint 1hich might indeed #e completely false( And* needless to say perhaps* there is eher Ali reiterating after regular inter%als* Sab jhut hain.- All this is fa#ricated. Renus te6t* on the other end of the spectrum* concerns itself 1ith the story of an orphaned #oy named Karma 1ho* according to him* 2ust stays 1ith the riliphiya babus of the rail1ays and considers himself a ramta jogi 01andering ascetic4 1hose home is 1here is #ody is @ jahan dhar wahan ghar. 3here is a mystical atmosphere constructed 1ithin the te6t sometimes gi%ing the reader the faulty impression that it is a ghost story( ?n fact* it is this illusory %eil more than any other thematic or structural element that

Renus story has in common 1ith Ra#indranaths( >enerations of its readers ha%e regarded Ksudhito Pashan as Ra#indranaths e6perimentation 1ith the supernatural not1ithstanding the presence of se%eral %ital aspects 1ithin the te6t sho1ing that it is not one( )ut the 1ay in 1hich Amita% >hosh mends these t1o stories 1ithin the te6ture of his no%el makes his intention e%ident: to replicate e6actly this aspect of #oth of these stories to #uild* at the surface le%el* a science fiction underneath the le%el of 1hich there is the #urgeoning postcolonial agenda of su#%erting a taken-for-granted colonial truth( Aur interest in >hoshs narrati%e* ho1e%er* has to do 1ith the method of organi7ation that he follo1s deeply em#edded in 1hich are the cultural nuances impregnated 1ith possi#ilities of pro%iding theorists like 8ameson the impression that all third1orld literatures are essentially this or that( )etter is to take this into account* at least at this 2uncture of our proposed discussion* that one cannot simply surpass the %ery literary-culture of #oth the e6pectation and the production* 1herein it operates and #egin the %ery act of constructing the narrati%e( ?t is al1ays a pertinent "uestion as to ho1 1e concei%e the modern in ?ndian literature 1ith the introduction of print and periodicals or ha%ing the printed te6t as a commodity* and the %ery ne1 act of silent and singular reading practice( 3he %arious ne1 forms of 1riting* and more so in case of short-story in particular* had their lineage #ack to the e6pectation of the readers 1ithin the reading-practices of indi%idual language-literary cultures& yet found se%eral literary tools to e6pand the hori7on of e6pectation in order to create a generic space outside the domain of dominant streams of reading-practice( )oth Ra#indranaths and Renus chosen short stories 0a generic nomenclature 1e use only for the sake of temporary con%enience4 are #ound to get operated 1ithin their respecti%e language cultures %is-9-%is playing 1ith the dominant generic forms of that %ery time* yet simultaneously e6panding the readers hori7on( Kshudhito Pashan* #eing one of the first instances of short story in )angla* had #een stemmed 1ithin the su#-category Akhyanaka* 1here a story to tell 1ith a deep urge for a narrati%e had its impetus #ehind the literali7ation of the readers e6pectation* #e it a certain narrati%e rooted 1ithin Ara#ya Ra2ani* or other1ise( ?t is indeed true that the genesis and e%olution of short story as a genre in the ?ndian conte6t had some1hat a colonial #aggage* since the production and dissemination of periodicals* and henceforth of short story* 1ere dependent upon the %ast spectrum of introduction of print as a mode of mechanical reproduction( )ut it is e"ually pertinent a "uestion as to 1hether it constitutes the sole impetus #ehind the literali7ation( 3he %ery time one

e6plores someho1 a ne1 path in mo%ing to1ards an emerging genre from the dominant one* so much so in this specific case to1ards short-story from the no%el* or no%ella par sake* there 1ould ha%e ine%ita#ly #een some literary self-referential tools to accommodate us 1ith( Guring the pre%ious years 2ust #efore the introduction of short story in )angla the Fistorical fiction* %isuali7ed through the lens of neo-Findu nationalist discourse* had its all-per%ading presence across the spectrum of #oth the production and dissemination at the material end* and reading-culture on the other( 3o #reak a1ay from those dominant literary forms a num#er of literary self referential instances can #e found em#edded at e%ery possi#le le%el of the literary construct* and the literary construct only( Ritimato No%el* #eing one of 3agores short stories from that time* had 1ithin it those same characteristics of self-referencing to the emergence of short story out of the Riti 0formal nuances4 of historical ficti%e no%el present across the )angla literary culture of that time( All of a sudden* al#eit 1ithin the flo1 a narrati%e rooted 1ithin readers e6pectation* the specific presence eher Ali* reiterating HSa# 8hoot Fai!I tends to #reak do1n the chain* and tries to tread that same path outside the pur%ie1 of dominant generic e6position of that time* and makes it easier for the short story to employ 1ith* and operate 1ithin* #oth the reading culture of a local language and its literary incarnations( 3he point to #e made here is* to "uote J R Anathamurthi* No good 1riter limits himself to the e6pectations of the reader* he e6tends it* #ut 1ithin a gi%en conte6t( 3he Nayi Kahani mo%ement in Findi literature emerged* according to Kamalesh1ar* as a reaction against the intensely personal 0 bya tigata not byaiya ti * su#e2ecti%e4 tone of the 1ritings of Ritikal as 1ell the PostPremchand politico-ideological narrati%es 1hich Kamalesh1ar designates as Samuha!adi-"rachar!adi 0collecti%ist-propagandist4( ?n his Nayi ahani Ki Bhumi a Kamalesh1ar traces the literary spirit of this ne1 mo%ement to Ka#ir 1ho not only through his non-conformist attitude #ut also #y means of making an entry for Khari#oli into the domain of literary Findi had taken a step to1ards modernity( <hat is important to note is that modernity is #eing construed here as ha%ing sprung out from 1ithin the tradition and 1ithout e%en a stray reference to the e6perience of colonial encounter( ?n an inter%ie1 1ith Kothar Kut7e Renu too had su#scri#ed to the %ie1 that it 1as Ka#ir 1ho 1as the need of the day* not 3ulsi( ?n case of Renu this is furthermore significant gi%en his e6periments 1ith the standardi7ed literary language of Findi to literari7e the e6periences of his characters* most of 1hose geographical and conse"uentially cultural positions 1ere far remo%ed

from the centres of cultural pra6is of the Findi-speaking people of the country( 3his often leads one to la#el Renus narratological e6positions as anchali * a highly politici7ed and needless to say* faulty nomenclature( Ek Aadim Ratri Ki ehak* too* 1ith all its distincti%e features might 1ell #e listed 1ithin the category of anchali only that one is still to coherently define 1hat particular geo-political space the term anchal refers to( Ne%ertheless* 1hat are discerna#le in Renus story are the specific e6periences of its characters #elonging to a specific geo-politico-cultural space that shapes the narrati%e( 3here is not much scope here of going into detailed te6tual analysis 1hich might ha%e #een fruitful to understand the organi7ational principle at 1ork in the particular generic frame1ork 1hich Renu chooses to place his narrati%e in and also the defining spirit of the Nayi Kahani mo%ement 1hen it aspired to #uild narrati%es in an e%idently non-ur#an situation( Ket us 2ust reiterate at this 2uncture 1hat Sisir Kumar Gas had argumentati%ely called the orientation of literatures produced in different ?ndian languages( According to him* 1hat defines modern ?ndian literature is its attempt* perhaps failed most of the times* to mo%e a1ay from the unified a#straction inherent in the concept of ?ndia in order to grasp fully 1hat )harat%arsha in all its contradiction means( 3his is e6actly the opposite 1hat 8ameson had contended to #e the characteristic trait of all third-1orld literatures* namely the #urden of the nation( 3his gi%es one the chance of returning to >hoshs no%el( 5irst of all* the story that he chooses to narrate in his no%el is predicated upon the idea that the structure of feeling the inha#itants of the once-coloni7ed countries possess are designed #y the e6periences of imperialism and colonialism( ?f that is not the case 1hy* in the %ery first instance* #uild a %isi#le #inary #et1een t1o ci%ili7ational others* namely the European coloni7er and the ?ndian coloni7ed; Fo1 far* it might #e apt to ask* are the e6periences of those settled in locations ha%ing e%entually 1itnessed the criminalities of imperialism are shaped e6clusi%ely #y that e6perience of colonialism; 3he pro#lem perhaps lies more in the language of ones preference than in anything else( >hosh seems to recogni7e this 1hen he says !( the reasons 1hy ? 1rite in English are ultimately rooted in my countryLs history( J R Anathmurthy had once said that the medium shapes the 1riter* e%en 1hen he is shaping it( )ecause the history of the use of English as a literary language in ?ndia cannot #e imagined 1ithout the colonial contact* the central preoccupation of the ?ndian 1riter 1riting in English remains most of the times either to follo1 or oppose the colonial discourse( 3o put it in eenakshi ukher2ees 1ords* 3here is no getting a1ay from the #urden of

?ndia if you 1ant to 1rite in English( )ut perhaps a little "ualitati%e addition needs to #e made here( 3he fact is that there pro#a#ly 1ont #e any distortion made if Malcutta in The Calcutta Chromosome 1as replaced #y any other location of ?ndia or e%en 1ith ?ndia as an a#stract 1hole( 3his is not solely #ecause one is 1riting in the language of the coloni7er #ut also #ecause one has chosen to 1rite a#out postcolonial su#2ect formation 1hich al1ays is constituted of the irritating feature of metonyma7ation so characteristic of most of ?ndian English 1ritings( The #od o$ the Small Things still remains* one may argue* one of the %ery fe1 instances 1hich ha%e #een successful in getting rid of the tendency to metonymi7e* making Aymenem not ?ndia #ut Aymenem only( 5or Arundhati Roy* therefore* there is no added #urden of recounting again and again the e6perience of colonialism and attaching local colour to her narrati%e in order to claim her roots in ?ndia* 2ust as an Ara# does not need camels to pro%e that he is an Ara#( Reacting to 8amesons repeatedly made contention that all third-1orld te6ts are necessarily!national allegories Ai2a7 Ahmed had instantly commented %is-9-%is the Jrdu literary tradition #ut 1hich might %ery 1ell #e applied to all other ?ndian literatures* <e ha%e had our o1n hysterias here and there* far too many in fact* #ut there has ne%er #een a sustained* po1erful myth of a primal innocence* 1hen it comes to the colonial encounter( <hat can #e added to this is the fact that #ecause there has ne%er #een any such myth the ?ndian 1riters 1riting in 1hat has no1 #ecome a derogatory terminology* the bhasha languages* ha%e often dispensed 1ith local colour* a commonplace in #oth postcolonial theory and 1riting( Non-postcolonial* thus* includes all other possi#ilities of reading literatures emerging out of the so called third-1orld as literatures* not as specimens for sociological en"uiry(