Voice of peasants and colonial policy in Amitav Ghosh’s work

Abstract

Amitav Ghosh (1956 - ), a contemporary writer who holds an important position in the contemporary Indian literary life, is clearly aware of the subaltern issue in his works. He is even called a “subaltern novelist” by some researchers, who has tried to reveal other historical facts, which have been placed behind and marginalized by the dominant Western historiography in writing national history in India. Many scientific works have exploited the subaltern characters in his works such as: the story of the abnormal man, who has been the patient of most of the mutinies or political disasters since ancient times. This article analyzes the issue of the voice and appearance of farmers in some of Amitav Ghosh’s works based on the arguments of subaltern research. The article hopes to contribute to the study of contemporary Indian literature in Vietnam. The subaltern approach also suggests new perspectives on the literatures of other former colonial countries around the world.