TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL SPHERES IN AMITAV GHOSH'S THE SHADOW LINES: MAPPING THE HISTORICAL NARRATIVES

The researcher aims to analyse Amitav Ghosh’s The Shadow Lines with special reference of temporal and spatial spheres with the consideration of historical narratives. Ghosh’s fondness for mapping events with an actual source through the documentation of the same with a view to strengthen the historical narratives in the light of temporal and spatial horizons are apparent in The Shadow Lines. The researcher has explored the above-mentioned concerns and has expounded the study of the novel with the prime consideration of the shifts in temporal and spatial dynamics. Ghosh’s construction of historical narratives and mapping the real incidents with the subsequent chain of other events which adhere the diverse dimensions of time and space in the novel has been analysed by the researcher in the proposed study. The historical narratives of the 1964 Calcutta riots, clash of Germany and Britain in World War 2 and the aftermath effects have been primarily focused by the researcher with the temporal and spatial dynamics. The historical narrative of the political upheaval between Calcutta and Dhaka have been analysed in the temporal and spatial realm along with Ghosh’s use of documenting the actual sources prevalent at that particular time period: newspaper headlines, short reports and radio commentary. In The Shadow Lines Ghosh’s use of mapping the events from Mrs. Price family’s picture of photograph has been compared with Agha Shahid Ali’s use of postcard in the poem Postcard from Kashmir as well as the Oriental binary of Westen and Eastern tradition through the characters of Ila, Tridib and Tha’mma have at minor focus.