Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities
Year : 2011, Volume : 1, Issue : 3
First page : ( 1) Last page : ( 9)
Print ISSN : 0000-0000. Online ISSN : 2249–7315.

Naipaul's Mystic Masseur: A Quest for identity amidst Deracination

Singh Balkar, Research Scholar

Bharthiar University, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu.

Online published on 30 November, 2011.

Abstract

The literature happens to be an aesthetic representation of human feelings which are otherwise not expressible. It mirors the contemporary society and its rainbow like beauty as well as its inherent maladies. In modern times, most of the literary works mark a reaction against the so- called status quo imposed by colonial powers on the people of Asia, Africa, Caribbean and so on. For centuries, the colonisation forced the native population of these countries to despise their own history and culture, and shift their reverence to Europe- led philosophy of ‘Western Superiority Syndrome’. As a result, the millions of colonised people were made to move as indentured labours to foreign islands. As a result., they lost their relatives, homes, language, culture and identity. In this context, we find that VS Naipaul examines the chequered history of such people in detail which has been duly acknowledged by Nobel Committee in 2001. His works highlight the fact that even after twenty odd decades, for uprooted people ‘A Quest amidst Deracination’ is surely on. For this purpose, a modest effort will be made to evaluate The Mystic Masseur(1997).

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