Abstract
Cultural plurality and heterogeneity have always been the main concerns in postcolonial studies. Arundhati Roy’s debut novel The God of Small Things examines India’s cultural transformation from colonial, postcolonial period to contemporary era of globalization. Read from this trajectory, the novel represents to us the hybrid elements of Indian culture and the oppressed, subordinate “cultural others” that require our deep concern. In this study of The God of Small Things, my task is twofold: (1) to re-examine the influence of the caste system in postcolonial India and investigate the cultural conflicts/differences in relation to the narration of trauma, history and transgression; (2) to re-think Roy’s appropriation of the imperial language, the discursive forms and modes of representation of the novel. Overall, this study aims to explore the “possibilities” within and beyond the postcolonial subcontinent of India by listening to the heterogeneous voices of its peoples. Among the characters in the novel, Velutha is prominent because his “casted body/status” signifies the cultural difference of India from other nations. The narration of Velutha reveals the intertwined relationship between caste and the social divisions in India. Yet the transgression between Velutha and Ammu poses challenges to the traditional norms and social hierarchy of India. Moreover, Rahel and Estha’s transgression brings out issues of hybridity, gender oppression, social taboo and incest. Apart from these characters, the narration of trauma is from Mammachi, Baby Kochamma and Chacko. The traumatic memories of the Ipe family remind us of India’s traumas of colonization. “The History House,” which is a place holding small events and traumatic memories, is also the haunted house of “her-stories.” By dwelling on the “small things” happened to the Ipe family, Roy actually is questioning the construction of empire, the lingering effects of colonialism and the global order in flux. In this way, Roy’s novel reveals to us the possibility of dismantling the western codes and performing postcolonial subversion through the process of literary decolonization.