Am I heard? redefining the voice of a subaltern: A postcolonial study of ‘the other’ in Indira Goswami's the moth eaten howdah of the tusker

Abstract

A subaltern's voice is always subsumed because they lack the discursive power. The paper aims to outline how Dr. Indira Goswami projects the fictitious characters in her novel with a bold voice that revolts with diverse behavioural patterns like intricate actions, revolutionary manifestations, rebellion, violence and blatant expressions. Silence takes the form of powerful resistance. Taking in cue the theory of post colonialism, the study branches to the theory of the ‘other’ andfurther to the concept of voice. The study delves upon the concept of ‘voice’ as a tool for resistance manifesting in myriad forms. It analyses the development of a subaltern woman transforming into a ‘new’ woman who is strong, bold and articulate. Notwithstanding the total submissiveness of Durga and Saru Gossainnee, the silent rebel, Giribala, the ‘voice’ of the novel poses a recalcitrant attitude to the rules, conventions, and taboos prevalent in the sattra. She is a new ‘voice’, the voice of dissent for the subaltern who is never heard. The study traces the evidence of ‘voice’ in Giribala with an objective to be ‘heard’.