RE-ORIENTALISM AND PORTRAYAL OF THE DOWNTRODDEN INDIAN PEOPLE: DECONSTRUCTING THE CONCEPT OF ‘ORIENT’ IN R.K.NARAYAN’S THE GUIDE

Abstract [English]

In his book Orientalism (1978), Edward Said underscores the differences and interpersonal interactions between the colonisers and the colonial natives. In order to gain power and control over the colonised, the coloniser subjugates and controls them. The consequent relational disparity contributes to the development of a colonial discourse in which the native people’s identities are shaped by the colonisers. The colonised people’s thinking have been so profoundly affected by this process that even after the termination of the colonial rule, a number of colonized people view the fellow countrymen through the colonial lenses formerly used by the colonizers. They fail to get rid of their minds from the prejudices set up by the European settlers. This process of creating ‘orientalism’ within the native country by its own people is what Lisa Lau calls, ‘Re-orientalism’. Re-orientalism basically aims to shatter the domination of the natives over their fellow countrymen thereby creating an alternative discourse of the indigenous people. The renowned Indian novelist and short story writer, R.K.Narayan in his novel The Guide (1958) vividly showcases such an attitude of the native Indian people towards their own countryfolk and how some of them adopt the colonizer’s tricks for acquiring striking benefits. Nonetheless the main character Raju disguises himself as a saint in order to escape the bitter complexities of his past life and to make a new beginning of his life by exploiting the trust of the villagers. Just as the settlers acquired the power and confidence over the natives in the colonial era, likewise, Raju, in the post-independence era, attempts to secure his position by establishing his irresistible dominion over the villagers. The present paper seeks to trace re-orientalism in The Guide and wants to demolish the enduring supremacy of the notion orientalism. Leaving his story open-ended, the novel reinforces the significance of the voices of the general mass for constructing their own discourse.