The last of earth, and, The poetics of postcolonial historical fiction: an analysis of Amitav Ghosh’s works

Anappara, Deepa (2023) The last of earth, and, The poetics of postcolonial historical fiction: an analysis of Amitav Ghosh’s works. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

My thesis combines a novel, The Last of Earth, and a critical essay, ‘The Poetics of Postcolonial Historical Fiction: An Analysis of Amitav Ghosh’s works’.

Set against the backdrop of the Great Game, The Last of Earth examines white privilege and colonialism through the lenses of exploration and surveying. As Tibet was closed to all foreigners except Indians in the mid-nineteenth century, the British-run Trigonometrical Survey trained Indians in rudimentary techniques of cartography to conduct clandestine surveys of Tibet with a view to gaining knowledge of the terrain and dispelling any Russian incursions into the region. The Indian explorers employed their own bodies as surveying instruments and risked their lives for very little money and recognition.

The Last of Earth narrates the story of one such expedition from the perspective of a disgruntled Indian explorer named Balram, tasked with guiding a disguised British surveyor through Tibet on an expedition to map the course of the Horse River. Also travelling through Tibet at the same time is Katherine, whose goal is to be the first European woman to reach Lhasa. Through these two perspectives, the novel investigates notions of borders and belonging and the dialectic between science and myth.

The critical study analyses the works of Amitav Ghosh, particularly In an Antique Land, The Calcutta Chromosome, and The Hungry Tide, to identify the techniques that Ghosh utilises to construct voices missing from the archives. The essay discusses the influence of the Subaltern Studies’ historians on Ghosh’s fiction, and examines the manner in which he incorporates and extends their research methodologies to recreate the subaltern consciousness. Ghosh’s willingness to employ fictional devices such as coincidence in particular and the uncanny in general, which are on occasion considered ‘flawed’ or ‘illogical’, and antithetical to realism, is investigated, and the role of these aesthetic choices in emphasising invisible networks between people and geographies disrupted by colonialism is also addressed.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	28 Oct 2024 08:31
Last Modified:	28 Oct 2024 08:31
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/97225
DOI:

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