Concept of Nationalism with Wound of Partition in Amitav Ghosh’s “The Shadow Lines”

Abstract

India has so many stories to tell about the past, present and the future. It is true that a nation is not there if it is not part of one‟s own consciousness. A nation does not exist as a physical entity, but lives by and speaks to us through the culture-soul. The present paper is intended to examine Amitav Ghosh‟ treatment of nationalism in “The Shadow Lines” (1988), which as a memory novel, sketches few historical events like the freedom movement in Bengal, the Second World War and the Partition of India in 1947 and the communal riots in Bangladesh and India. In this novel, Ghosh describe concept of nationalism in Indian. The fervent nationalism upheld by grandmother is put to question and re-analysis. Ghosh explores the unreality and invalidity of traditional identity constructions such as nation and nationalism. Amitav Ghosh‟s „The Shadow Line‟s focusses on the meanings and shades of political nuances in contemporary life. The quest for political freedom, violence in modern life are aptly delineated in the novel.