The Postmodern Condition of Fragmentation in Githa Hariharan’s “Fugitive Histories”

Abstract

Post -1980 is the period of postmodernism in Indian English Literature with the postmodern novelists featuring Indian tradition and history in a new light using new narrative strategies. Githa Hariharan as a postmodern writer has used the technique of rewriting myths and histories to liberate women. Lisa Tuttle defines feminist theory as asking “new questions of old texts”. Old texts are revisited to challenge the gender stereotypes embedded in myths that have fashioned this patriarchal society. Githa Hariharan, in her novel “Fugitive Histories” recalls the Gujarat riots that have left an indelible mark in the lives of the affected people who look out to some form of rehabilitation to keep going in this uncertain world. The female characters she depicts, are strong enough to combat the present situation though they face all kinds of suppression and the sense of resignation with which they bring peace into their life really takes Githa Hariharan to another level. She has tried her best to celebrate life amidst chaos that exists in modern society for she understands that there is no use lamenting over the loss of the past or the collapse of selfhood as Tim Woods rightly points out in his book “Beginning Postmodernism”. This paper analyses the postmodern condition of fragmentation in the novel “Fugitive Histories” and shows how women try to reconstruct their lives in the midst of the disparity that prevails in society based on religion and gender.