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The Shadow Lines as a Post Modern Novel



Author(s)

P. Pradeep, R. Poli Reddy

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DOI:10.17265/2159-5836/2015.11.009

Sreenidhi Institute of Science and Technology, Ghatkesar, India Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur, India SV Arts & Science College, Giddaluru, India Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur, India

Amitav Ghosh is one the most remarkable writers of the postmodernism era. He excelled in this era with his trend of magic realism. The Shadow Lines is a story told by a nameless narrator in recollection. It’s a non linear tale told as if putting together the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle in the memory of the narrator. This style of writing is both unique and captivating; unfolding ideas together as time and space coalesce and helping the narrator understand his past better. Revolving around the theme of nationalism in an increasingly globalized world, Ghosh questions the real meaning of political freedom and the borders which virtually seem to both establish and separate. The novel traverses through almost seventy years through the memories of people, which the narrator recollects and narrates, giving their viewpoint along with his own. Though the novel is based largely in Kolkata, Dhaka, and London, it seems to echo the sentiments of whole Southeast Asia, with lucid overtones of Independence and the pangs of Partition.

postmodernism, magic realism, blend of themes, unique style of narration