• ISBN13: 9788126928019
• Binding: Hardcover
• Subject: English Literature
• Publisher: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors (P) Ltd
• Publisher Imprint: Atlantic
• Publication Date: July 22, 2018
• Pages: 600
• Original Price: INR 1495.0
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 700 grams
• BISAC Subject(s): General

V.S. Naipaul has been critical of the postcolonial societies—their history, politics and culture. He has combined fiction, history, autobiography and facts to present his ideas and vision, relevant to the contemporary conditions. As a valued author, he has generated enormous interest/debate among the readers and scholars across the globe. The present book explores Naipaul’s concern for suppressed histories of various civilizations and the related complex issues concerning the intriguing confusions regarding rootlessness, identity crisis and cultural predicament of the marginalized individuals, communities and nations, their directions/misdirections of different movements after the end of colonialism as well as the prevailing political, cultural and psychological contradictions faced by the postmodern societies, more specifically the Third-World countries. Postcolonialism signifies a contemporary condition, and embodies various intellectual approaches, influenced by poststructuralism, deconstruction and cultural criticism. Postcolonial cultural interpretation of texts brings out new areas of meaning by destabilizing the existing fixed notions and assumptions. As a diasporic writer, Naipaul subverts the existing social order and history emphasizing the aspects of his immigrant experience related to the burning postcolonial issues such as search for identity, marginality, ethnicity, political disorders and neocolonial ills. The book discusses Naipaul’s fictional and travel worlds which are sad, enigmatic and baffling as they raise the core issues of identity crisis, immigration, metaphysical alienation and search for roots.

Prakash Chandra Pradhan is currently Professor in the Department of English at Banaras Hindu University, India. His areas of research interest include Stylistics and Discourse Analysis, Postcolonial Studies, Feminist Studies, New Literatures in English, Indian Writing in English, American Literature, British Literature, Cultural Studies, Contemporary Theory, Eco-critical Studies and Translation Studies. He has authored two books on D.H. Lawrence, namely D.H. Lawrence’s Novels: A Stylistic Approach (2002) and D.H. Lawrence’s Novels: A New Historical Approach (2009). He has translated Jnanpith Award winning novelist Gopinath Mohanty’s novel Sibavai (2004), and has also published a collection of Odia poems titled Timirara Surya (2002). He has published 81 research papers, articles and reviews in renowned journals, anthologies and magazines of national/international reputation. He has completed two University Grants Commission-sponsored research projects on D.H. Lawrence (2005 to 2006) and V.S. Naipaul (2009 to 2011), and has published several papers on these two projects. He is recipient of Teacher Fellowship from the University Grants Commission (1992-93) and Teacher Research Grant from American Studies Research Centre (1994) (Now OUCIP, i.e., Osmania University Centre for International Programme). Professor Pradhan was a UGC Visiting Fellow at the Department of English, Sambalpur University, Odisha during January-February 2016 and taught postcolonial issues and critical theory. He has presented several papers/chaired sessions in international and national seminars/conferences. Professor Pradhan has successfully guided a number of research scholars who have been awarded Ph.D. degree, and is very active in guiding many scholars for their Ph.D. at present.

• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• List of Abbreviations

• PART I

• Introduction
• 1. Situating Postcolonialism
• 2. Contextualising V.S. Naipaul as a Postcolonial Writer

• PART II

• Interpreting Fictional Discourse
• 3. Society, Politics and Culture in Early Novels
• 4. Neocolonialism, Expatriacy and Cultural Identity in Shorter Fiction
• 5. Hegemony, Ethnicity, Political Disorder, and Diasporic Identity in Later Novels

• PART III

• Travelogues: Writing History, Culture, Civilization
• 6. The Caribbean Journey: Exploring West Indian History, Society, Culture
• 7. The Image of the Indian Nation: A Diasporic Perspective
• 8. The Islamic Journeys: Deconstructing History, Religion, Civilization
• 9. The South American Expedition: Exploring Racism, Culture, Civilization

• PART IV

• Conclusion
• 10. Self, Culture and Universal Civilization
• Works Cited and Consulted
• Index