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VOL. 11, ISSUE 3 (2025)
Reconstructing masculinity in the fiction of amitav ghosh: Memory, displacement, and postcolonial identity
Authors
Dr Chitra Dashora, Gajraj Singh
Abstract
This paper examines how Amitav Ghosh’s novels The Glass Palace, Sea
of Poppies, and The Shadow Lines reconstruct masculine identity amid
colonial and postcolonial upheaval. It argues that Ghosh’s male characters
negotiate new forms of masculinity through memory, displacement, and the trauma
of empire. Drawing on Connell’s notion of hegemonic masculinity and
postcolonial gender theory (e.g. Fanon, Stanovsky), the analysis shows that men
in Ghosh’s fiction are often passive or vulnerable rather than traditionally
heroic. For example, The Shadow Lines portrays a male narrator and cousin
(Tridib) whose identities are shaped by imagination and loss, while women (Ila,
Tha’mma) actively define the family’s future. In the Glass Palace,
Rajkumar’s rise and fall in colonial capitalism tie his self-worth to imperial
power and war, and exile undermines traditional fatherhood and authority. Sea
of Poppies presents indentured and diasporic men (Zachary, Neel, Kalua)
whose racialized labor under the British Empire emasculates and fragments them,
even as cross-cultural camaraderie offers limited resistance. Across these
texts, masculinity emerges as fluid, performative, and historically contingent
– shaped by collective memory and the negotiation of trauma. By placing these
novels in dialogue, the paper shows how colonialism and migration disrupt fixed
gender roles, supporting Stanovsky’s claim that postcolonial contexts produce
“hybrid masculinities” at the margins. This study thus contributes to
postcolonial gender discourse by highlighting how Ghosh’s works depict men
negotiating identity through memory and crisis. Future research might extend
this to eco-masculinity and non-binary resistance in Ghosh’s later fiction.
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Pages:7-10
How to cite this article:
Dr Chitra Dashora, Gajraj Singh "Reconstructing masculinity in the fiction of amitav ghosh: Memory, displacement, and postcolonial identity". International Journal of English Research, Vol 11, Issue 3, 2025, Pages 7-10
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