Change, Modernity, and Northeastern Identity: A Comparative Study of Mamang Dai’s The Black Hill and Escaping the Land

Abstract

Mamang Dai is an acclaimed poet and novelist, hailing from Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh. She was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri in 2011 and has also received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2017. Dai traces her ancestral heritage to the Adi tribe. As an author, she has mastered a diversified body of works, including poetry and non-fiction. The present paper aims to analyse two of her novel: The Black Hill (2014) and Escaping The Land (2021). This paper aims at tracing the elements of change and modernity in the two chosen texts, primarily revolving around Northeastern identity. The paper showcases how this identity has gone through various tumults and turmoil nonetheless, it also posits a rich cultural and ancestral heritage and takes pride in its unified tribal foundations. This paper then concludes that to sustain this identity, Northeastern heritage and culture must be given an equal and dignified importance as is imparted to national interests.