Interpretation Of Heat And Dust From The Perspective Of Bakhtin's Dialogue Theory

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala(1927-2013)is a well-known female writer in contemporary English world who has an important position in Indian writing in English literary world.Her novel Heat and Dust won the Booker Prize in 1975.There are large number of great dialogues and micro-dialogues in this novel.Bakhtin's dialogue theory provides an appropriate perspective for the analysis of this novel.The novel is composed of two parallel stories: one is the story of the British colonial official's wife Olivia,who came to India with her husband,but eloped with the Nawab in 1923;the other is the story of the narrator,who comes to India to seek the story between her grandfather's ex-wife Olivia and the Nawab.Bakhtin thinks that the dialogicality is not only reflected in the characters' monologue or dialogue,but also in dialogical relations between the author and the hero,between the characters' thoughts and dialogical relations in the novel's plot and structure,which is called great dialogue.The thesis explores the great dialogues between the novel and other texts,the author and the heroines,feminism and male chauvinism,Indian culture and British culture and micro-dialogues in the character's inner conflicts in the conversation and monologue from the perspective of Bakhtin's dialogue theory.In addition to Introduction and Conclusion,the thesis consists of four chapters.Introduction summarizes Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and her works,presenting the current researches on Heat and Dust and highlights the significance of this study.Chapter one presents the introduction of Bakhtin's dialogue theory.Bakhtin believes that dialogue is the essence of existence,therefore,the humans' self-construction can only be achieved in the communication with others.Bakhtin divides dialogue into “great dialogue”and “micro-dialogue”.Great dialogue exists in the dialogical relations between the author and the protagonist,between the ideas of the characters and in the structure of the novel.When dialogue penetrates into within,into every word in the novel,making it double-voiced,it becomes micro-dialogue.Chapter Two is intended to analyze the great dialogue between the narrator and Olivia and between the novel and other texts.The dialogue between the two heroines lie in the dialogue of their consciousnesses,constituting the unique parallel structure of the novel.Dialogue between the novel and other texts enriches the content of the novel and highlights the theme of the novel.Chapter Three discusses the great dialogue between the females and males in patriarchal society.Dialogue theory emphasizes equality of ideas,giving the “other” equal position.This provides women with theoretical basis to get rid of the shackles of patriarchal society,thus establishing an equal dialogue between the females and males.The narrator belongs to those who has succeed in having equal dialogue with men.This chapter also studies the great dialogue between Indian culture and British culture.In the novel British people represented by Douglas regard Indian culture as uncivilized culture,inferior culture,failing in the establishment of equal dialogue relationship with Indians,which makes British women such as Olivia and Mrs.Saunders marginalized.Bakhtin proposes heteroglossia and believes that the world should be multi-cultural.By putting the British and Indian culture into dialogue system,the authors expresses the desire for harmonious coexistence of the two cultures.Chapter Four manifests the micro-dialogue in Heat and Dust,the inner double-voiced discourse of the narrator “I” and the characters in the face of gender and cultural conflicts.The narrator “I” has found her identity by living equally with males in patriarchal society and integrating with Indian culture.She keeps her own identity as well as accepting Indian culture,establishing equal dialogue with Indians.It can be concluded that Heat and Dust constructs a network of dialogue,providing a platform for equal dialogue of ideas.Bakhtin dialogue theory is not only beneficial for us to understand the present situation of women who are marginalized in the “other” culture and patriarchal society,but also useful to hold right attitudes and positions towards cultural integration and cultural exchange.