3 Review(s)

About the Book: Amitav ghosh is a novelist of remarkable genius. Captivating the audience with his excellent art of storytelling, he recreates history past and present through his unique amalgamation of fact and fantasy. Glimpses of walter scott?s historical novel can be traced in the fiction of ghosh who has taken the genre further than its traditional connotation. He has employed facts from history as the basis of his imaginative tale of common man transcending the boundaries of conventional perception of history and reality; thereby representing an alternative perspective, interrogating the institutionalized view and asserting the voices from the margins. The central focus of ghosh has always been the common man. No matter what the historical fact that forms the basis of his tale, it is his concern for the common man, the representation of the human and cultural aspect that finds a prominence in ghosh?s fiction. The present research work takes into consideration five selected novels of ghosh namely, the circle of reason (1986), the shadow lines (1988), the calcutta chromosome (1996), the glass palace (2000) and the hungry tide (2004). The work beginning with an overview of diaspora and diasporic literature moves on to analyse the selected novels of amitav ghosh in relation to the themes of subversion of history in/through fiction, effect on human relationships, contrasting strands of emotions, discovery of self and an assessment of the writer?s narrative style. An artist par excellence his unique treatment of the themes, style and language lend an enduring charm and uniqueness to his novels. About the Editors: G. A. Ghanashyam, is associate professor and head, department of english, m. L. Shukla college, seepat, bilaspur (chhattisgarh). He has been teaching english at various levels for the last two decades. He has edited five books entitled glimpses of post-independence indian english fiction, vignettes of indian english literature, english language teaching a pedagogical web quest, voice of the voiceless conceptualizing the margilalized psyche and the voice of the other post independence indian english fiction. He has authored eighty-four scholarly research papers for peer reviewed/refereed journals and edited books of international and national standard. He has delivered keynote address, plenary lectures, memorial lectures, panel discussions in many international and national conferences. He is the fellow of royal asiatic society, great britain and ireland, national vice president of english language teachers? association of india (eltai), member of editorial board of canadian association of oriental and occidental culture (caooc), canada, editor-in-chief of journal of teaching and research in english literature, (an online journal of eltai), national cultural secretary of the association for english studies of india (AESI). His areas of interest include Indian writings in English, ELT, American literature, postcolonial literature, multiculturalism and comparative literature.He may be contacted at: gagshyam@gmail.comDr. Devasree Chakravarti is Assistant Professor and Head, Dept. of English at Pt. M.R.S. Govt. College, Pendra Road (Chhattisgarh). She has been teaching English at various levels for the last six years. She has authored seventeen scholarly research papers for peer reviewed/refereed journals and edited books of international and national repute. She is the member of ELTAI and Treasurer of ELTAI Bilaspur Chapter. She has attend many international and national conferences and presented her scholarly papers. She has a poetry collection titled Whispering Soul to her credit. Her areas of interest include Indian Writings in English, American literature, postcolonial literature, multiculturalism and diaspora writings. She can be contacted at: smile_devz@yahoo.comRakhi Nara has worked as Assistant Professor of English at Christian Eminent Academy of Management, Professional Education and Research, Indore. She has been teaching for the last one year. She has authored three research papers for the peer reviewed/referred journal and attended many conferences and seminars to present her papers. Her areas of interest include diaspora writings, ELT, Indian writings in English and multiculturalism. She is the member of ELTAI. She can be contacted at: rakhivmakhija@gmail.com