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‘Jannat Guest House': A challenge to the ‘Stereotype’ and celebration of ‘Impurities’: A Postmodern perspective to The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
Corresponding Author(s) : Neha Swarnakar
Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews,
Vol. 10 No. 1 (2022): January
Abstract
Purpose of the study: The purpose of the study is to deconstruct the essentialist hegemonic discourse of purity and present ‘Jannat Guest House’ as a challenge to the ‘stereotype’ and a celebration of ‘impurities’ in The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy.
Methodology: A postmodern perspective has been applied to this study. Postmodern theories of ‘plurality’, ‘shifts’ and ‘inclusion’ have been used for the meticulous study of the text. It uses the concept of ‘deterritorialization’ and the concept of ‘rhizome’ developed by Deleuze and Guattari.
Main Findings: Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness unpacks a narrative that, “by slowly becoming everything†resists the discourse of ‘purity’ as she has placed different voices irrespective of race, class, gender, or other binary specified terms, into one, Jannat Guest House. This study finds ‘Jannat Guest House’ as a Postmodern site of the dismantling of oppositional ‘binaries’ and a site of ‘inclusion’ which poses a threat to the ‘stereotype’ and a celebration of ‘impurities’.
Applications of the study: The study is useful in the reading of the celebration of contaminated diversity. It will explore one of the mottos of the postmodern perspective and will be helpful to deconstruct the notions of purity.
Novelty/Originality of the study: It will help to make the reader reciprocate the notions of impurities. It will help to dismantle the gleaming, consistent and coherent notions of purity. It will bring a change in their thinking over the concept of home, and celebration of individuality.
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- Ashcroft, B et al. (2002). The Empire Writes Back. (2nd Ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/97 80203426081
- Basu, T. (2002). Introduction: Translating Caste. Katha Publisher.
- Boehmer, E. (2005). Stories of Women, Gender and Narrative in the Postcolonial Nations. Manchester University Press. https://doi.org/10.7228/manchester/9780719068782.001.0001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7228/manchester/9780719068782.001.0001
- Edgar, A. and Peter, S. (2004). Key Concepts in Cultural Theory. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/978 0203981849
- Egleton, T. (1996). The Illusions of Postmodernism. Blackwell Publishing.
- Fanon. F. (1961). The Wretched of The Earth. C. Farrington, Trans. Grove Press.
- Fanon, F. (1982). Black Skin, White Masks. C. Markmann, Trans. Pluto Press.
- Gandhi. L. (1999). Postcolonial Theory: A Critical Introduction. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.15 15/9781474468312
- Ghosal, S. (2017). Book Review: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy: A far cry from the writer’s brilliant first—The God Of Small Things. Huff Post India.
- https://www.huffpost.com/archive/in/entry/book-review-the-ministry-of-utmost-happiness-by-arundhati-roy-a-22121017/amp.
- Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from Prison Notebooks. Lawrence and Wishwart.
- Hall, Kim Q. (2014). Towards a Queer Crip Feminist Politics of Food. Philosophia. 4(2), 177-196.
- Huggan, G. (2003). The Postcolonial Exotic: Marketing the Margins. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9 780203420102
- Law, J et al. (2013). Modes of Sycretism: Notes on Non coherence. Common Knowledge, 20(1), 172-92. https://doi.org/10.1215/0961754X-2374817 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/0961754X-2374817
- Mitchell, J. (2000). Mad Men and Medusas. Basic Books.
- Nabar, V. (1995). Caste as Woman. Penguin.
- Nayar, Pramod K. (2010). Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory. Pearson.
- Padley, S. (2006). Key Concepts in Contemporary Literature. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-0-230-20421-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-0-230-20421-8
- Roy, A. (2017). The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Penguin Random House.
- Tsing, A. (2015). The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400873548 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400873548
- Wallby, S. (1990). Theorising Patriarchy. T. J Press Ltd.
References
Ashcroft, B et al. (2002). The Empire Writes Back. (2nd Ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/97 80203426081
Basu, T. (2002). Introduction: Translating Caste. Katha Publisher.
Boehmer, E. (2005). Stories of Women, Gender and Narrative in the Postcolonial Nations. Manchester University Press. https://doi.org/10.7228/manchester/9780719068782.001.0001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7228/manchester/9780719068782.001.0001
Edgar, A. and Peter, S. (2004). Key Concepts in Cultural Theory. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/978 0203981849
Egleton, T. (1996). The Illusions of Postmodernism. Blackwell Publishing.
Fanon. F. (1961). The Wretched of The Earth. C. Farrington, Trans. Grove Press.
Fanon, F. (1982). Black Skin, White Masks. C. Markmann, Trans. Pluto Press.
Gandhi. L. (1999). Postcolonial Theory: A Critical Introduction. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.15 15/9781474468312
Ghosal, S. (2017). Book Review: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy: A far cry from the writer’s brilliant first—The God Of Small Things. Huff Post India.
Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from Prison Notebooks. Lawrence and Wishwart.
Hall, Kim Q. (2014). Towards a Queer Crip Feminist Politics of Food. Philosophia. 4(2), 177-196.
Huggan, G. (2003). The Postcolonial Exotic: Marketing the Margins. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9 780203420102
Law, J et al. (2013). Modes of Sycretism: Notes on Non coherence. Common Knowledge, 20(1), 172-92. https://doi.org/10.1215/0961754X-2374817 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/0961754X-2374817
Mitchell, J. (2000). Mad Men and Medusas. Basic Books.
Nabar, V. (1995). Caste as Woman. Penguin.
Nayar, Pramod K. (2010). Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory. Pearson.
Padley, S. (2006). Key Concepts in Contemporary Literature. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-0-230-20421-8 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-0-230-20421-8
Roy, A. (2017). The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Penguin Random House.
Tsing, A. (2015). The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400873548 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400873548
Wallby, S. (1990). Theorising Patriarchy. T. J Press Ltd.