Cross-Cultural Interaction in the Novels of Kamala Markandaya (Hardbound - 2013)

Kamala Markandaya, an Indian English novelist, is known for writing about cultural clash between Indian urban and rural societies. She belonged to that pioneering group of Indian women writers who made their mark not just through their subject matter, but also through their fluid, polished literary style. Nectar in a Sieve was her first published work, and its depiction of rural India and the suffering of farmers made it popular in the West. Her other fiction that followed, dramatized the Quit India Movement in 1942, the clash between East and West, the tragedy that resulted from it, and the problems faced by common middle-class Indians.

Cross Cultural Interaction in the Novels of Kamala Markandaya is a vivid depiction of Kamala Markandaya’s life and her approach to it according to changing circumstances. The interaction between two varying cultures—foreign and Indian, as portrayed in her novels—has been exquisitely described in the book. The fact that the West gets the benefit of ethical values from India, and the spiritual India profits from the modernization of the West, as depicted in the novels of Kamala Markandaya, has been accentuated. The interaction between the two different civilizations, the Eastern and the Western, has been discussed in the book. In fact, Markandaya’s own personality combines in itself the antipodal values of two diverse cultures. Her novels bear testimony that she was in favour of a synthesis of the two ways of life. This has been ably examined in the book.

It will be useful for the students of English literature, particularly India English literature, and researchers in these fields.

Md. Irshad, M.A., Ph.D. from B.R.A. Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, is Asstt. Professor in English at N.N. College, Singhara, Vaishali. He has contributed articles in literary journals of repute and attended seminars and conferences. He is also engaged in various cultural, social and literary activities. He takes interest in composing poems too.