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VOL. 9, ISSUE 1 (2023)
Pre-texts or pretexts? prefaces and the social reformist agenda in early malayalam novels
Authors
Rohith P
Abstract
This paper examines the prefaces to early Malayalam novels such as Indulekha
and Saraswativijayam as both pre-texts and pretexts, paratextual thresholds
that mediate between aesthetics and ideology. Drawing on Gérard Genette’s
theory of the paratext and the social-material insights of Raymond Williams and
Georg Lukács, the article argues that these forewords are not mere authorial
appendages but active sites of negotiation between colonial modernity, realism,
and reform. By juxtaposing aesthetic innovation with moral pedagogy, these
prefaces articulate the dual ambition of nineteenth-century Malayalam fiction:
to create a modern literary form and to reimagine the social order.
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Pages:51-54
How to cite this article:
Rohith P "Pre-texts or pretexts? prefaces and the social reformist agenda in early malayalam novels". International Journal of English Research, Vol 9, Issue 1, 2023, Pages 51-54
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