| Salmam Rushdie, brought up in a colonial environment, uses a variety of strategies in the writing of Midnight's Children to resist and refute the legacy of British colonial power in India. This thesis shows how the narrative in this novel creates a post-colonial space for the subject once dominated by colonialism, giving voice to the concerns and desires of a repressed people. My introduction outlines the strategies implicit in the novel, and suggests that the political nature of Rushdie's writing empowers the post-colonial subject by replacing the imperial imposition of silent acquiescence with voiced resistance.; This thesis shows how conventional history, language, and previous texts are all re-written in Midnight's Children and inscribed with new values to attain a post-colonial voice and identity distinguishable from the imperial subject. The colonial legacy is not dismissed, but rewriting this colonial past is recognized as a potential empowerment for those living in a post-colonial world. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
