LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 15:1 January 2015
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Cross-Cultural Interactions in Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s Novels –
Esmond in India and A Backward Place

S. Selva Roja, M.A., M.Phil.

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1927-2013)
Courtesy: http://pensionerblog.blogspot.com/2014/09/ruth-prawer-jhabvala-interview.html

Abstract

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala confines her attention to the Indian middle classes and the expatriates and her novels deftly ring the chimes on the same themes, tracing numerous permutations on family conflicts. The title and themes of the novels coincide with Jhabvala’s different experiences in India. Esmond in India presents a new dimension in Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s creativity. The novel delineates a disaster in marital relationship between an Indian wife and an English husband. Life partners from two distinctly different cultural backgrounds obviously tend to feel the tensions, conflicts and marital misgivings. As a westerner who has close ties with the Indian family norms, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala realistically portrays the problems of Gulab. A Backward Place is a novel in which Jhabvala for the first time is more concerned with foreigners who happen to come to India. Jhabvala concentrates on their reaction and different attitudes toward the country. The western wife Judy puts up with all hardships and prepares for a battle against a backward place like India. The novel also deals with the different kinds of expatriates who feel differently about India, which is a “backward place” in the eyes of the Europeans. Jhabvala feels the ache at the heart of humanity. She is appreciative as well as critical of both the cultures.

Key Words: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Esmond in India, A Backward Place, Clashes between two cultures, Indian middle class, traditions

Focus on Family Life

In her novels, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala concentrates upon family life, social problems and personal relationships, with all its opportunities for intrigue, clash between generations and marital feuding. Her novels deftly ring the chimes on the same themes, tracing numerous permutations on family conflicts.

Esmond in India – A Complex Fabric

Esmond in India

In her novel Esmond in India, the cross-cultural interaction is deftly projected through an inter-racial marriage between a lazy and stupid but beautiful Indian girl and a snobbish and colonial-minded English expatriate. In such a marriage, the thin veneer of superficial modernity is of no avail.

The world of Esmond in India is ideologically confused and confusing. In its complex fabric, modern western modes of life and thought are seen to be closely woven with traditional Indian living patterns. Esmond Stillwood restates the doctrine of Asian inertia and European dynamism. In his initial reaction to India, the East and all that is foreign to him, he avidly studies up on Indian folklore, traditional poetry and history. He is greatly attracted towards Indian art and culture. Esmond Stillwood is an impoverished expatriate, who earns his living by giving private tuitions to foreign ladies, tourists and the elite.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

S. Selva Roja, M.A., M.Phil.
Assistant Professor in English
The Standard Fireworks Rajaratnam College for Women
Sivakasi 626130
Tamil Nadu
India
selvaroja.oja@gmail.com

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