Myth in Contemporary Indian Fiction in English (Hardbound - 2021)

The book critically explores the phenomenon of ‘proliferation of mythological novels’ in 21st Century in India by focusing on the social, cultural, and political context. It explores why and how novels based on mythology have gained unprecedented popularity. It speculates various cultural reasons and underlying social dynamics of this proliferation of mythological novels in contemporary times by eclectically drawing upon ideas from the number of theorists and critics like Meenakshi Mukherjee, Partha Chatterjee, Pavan Varma, Anthony Giddens, Andre Lefevere, Yuri Lotman, Levi-Strauss, Roland Barthes, and Fredric Jameson. The book analyses contemporary mythological novels by combining the various analytical perspectives like postmodernism, postcolonial studies, translation studies, and cultural semiotics regarding globalization and identity. It focuses on examining how these writers in their texts display an array of divergent attitudes towards the characters and incidents in the Indian Epics and Mythology, how these versions of ancient texts reinterpret the mythical past, and how the respective authors utilize myth creatively for coming to terms with the predicament of the present.

Dr. Kirtikumar Vitthani, M.A. (English), M.Phil. (English), B.Ed. (English & Sanskrit), Ph.D. (English), is an Assistant Professor in English at Prof. V.B. Shah Institute of Management, R.V. Patel College of Commerce, V.L. Shah College of Commerce, and Sutex Bank College of Computer Application and Science, Amroli, Surat, Gujarat. His research areas are Indian Mythology, Indian Writings in English, Regional Literature, Translation Studies, and Comparative Literature.