POST COLONIALISM REAFFIRMED IN THE SHADOW LINES

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to examine the post colonial impact on identity, culture, history and society with reference to the novel The Shadow Lines written by Amitav Ghosh one of the luminaries of Indian Writing in English. He has many prestigious awards to his credit including Sahitya Academy Award in 1988 for The Shadow Lines, Padmashri in 2007 and many more.

Edward Said's book Orientalism in 1978 is considered as the primary work on which Post Colonial theory has been developed, the other notable post colonial theorists are Homi Bhaba and Gayatri Spivak together called the 'holy trinity' of post colonial theory by Robert Young. Post colonialism is a wide term which includes many aspects of life at large such as historical, cultural, political, societal at the global level, and their textual consequences. It has its Origin from the European colonization of African and Asian Countries. This theory brings to light the effects that colonization, imperialism and oppression have on people and the colonized nation as a whole.