Right To Impress--Magic Of Technique

The magic of technique
Form and Style in Indian English Fiction
By Jagdish Batra.
Prestige Books.
Pages 190. Rs 600.
Reviewed by Rajbir Deswal
STYLE studies in English fiction, besides the theme, do exist in the contemporary fiction analysis scenario, but only so far as the West is concerned. In case of Indian English novels, there is acute dearth of such content on the library racks and catalogues. Jagdish Batra’s initiative in bringing out the present critique, which comprises write-ups by a score of specialists, should set the pace for appreciation and exploration of the postmodern scenario in style and narratology.

Socrates’ oft-quoted remark, almost having graduated into a truism with time, "As a man is, so is his speech", seems to be a byword for Batra who appears to be subscribing to this style as a concept immensely. His book focuses on myriad aspects in elaborating and examining the works of different Indian authors from R. K. Narayan and Mulk Raj Anand to Kiran Desai and Arvind Adiga. And the process is still on, if you address the macro-level, but largely individual pursuits in this direction are underway.

The question remains as to what impresses the reader of fiction most — theme or style? Plot or flow? Indulgence or suspense? Virtual, not-so-factual or factual fiction? Or, is it purely the subject matter for academics or the academia? Well, the present is bleak but future portends well, with the attempts being made by the likes of Alessandro Monti, Z. N. Patil, S. L. Paul, Vipasha Agarwal, Rekha Beniwal, Jyoti Singh, Monika Balyan Dahiya, Meenakshi, Geeta Goyal, Umed Singh, Priyanka Lamba, Urvashi Prabhat, Sumita Ashri, Jyoti Sheoran, Anita Dalal, Urmil Hooda and Narinder Kumar Saini. The present compilation has them all.

Batra throws light on the historical developments which turned simple concepts like style and plot structure into scientifically marked complex constructs of stylistics and narratology. Some leading novelists exhibit their typical characteristics in his judgement as: G.V. Desani being known for his verbal pyrotechnics; Anita Desai for her poetic prose; Arundhati Roy for her neo-nativisation of English; Salman Rushdie for his "chutnification" of language; Vikram Seth for his use of verse in fiction; and Kiran Desai for her stylistic flourishes.

Besides, some other equally capable novelists, who Batra mentions, include: Shashi Deshpande for her reflective style; Amitav Ghosh for the skilful focalisation of the narrator’s point of view; Rohinton Mistry for richness of language and imagery; Amit Chowdhuri for dispensing with the narrative in a novel without depending on the stream of consciousness either;`A0I. Allen Sealy for producing linguistic period piece in an avowedly indigenous "nama" (as in Baburnama) style; and Upmanyu Chatterjee for his use of pompous diction and Latinised construction.

International scenario in narratological studies is well represented by Italian scholar Alessandro Monti who very skillfully applies to the language used by Salman Rushdie in his novel Midnight’s Children, the Bakhtinian concept of a levelled and more democratic style, giving equal respect to the man at the helm and the man in the street; or Homi Bhabha’s postcolonial concern about the marginalised. Indeed, Rushdie’s "chutnification" of language as of history involves not only adding up spice but presenting a kind of potpourri in a more exotic form, transcending boundaries, which is the essence of the postmodern era.

Jyoti Sheoran finds Mulk Raj Anand’s use of slang, swear words, jargon of abuse, epithets of low life and verbal coinages taking him nearer his avowed purpose of evolving a language as rich and powerful as Irish English. Sumita Ashri describes narratives being of two types, namely Homodiegetic (narrator being present in the plot) Heterodiegetic (narrator being out of the plot). Studying Jhumpa Lahiri’s style, Shilpi Ahuja finds her "simple yet smart; sparing in words yet eloquent". Priyanka Lamba’s take on Chetan Bhagat firms up his position as the pioneer of those who understand and write essentially for the youth.

Arvind Adiga’s The White Tiger has an artful technique blending narration and description, reflection and revelation, if you believe Geeta Goyal. Monika Balayan-Dhaiya, while commenting on Anita Desai, lays more emphasis on vocabulary, syntax, morphology, grammar etc. However, this reviewer believes that quality and quantity of words used determines overall the aesthetic value of any piece of writing.

The book also dwells on a feature of narratology called "Narrative Thematics". Whereas Rekha Beniwal applies the spatial reading method to the south Indian woman writer Ambai’s fiction and charts the feminist streak, the author locates "home" as the structural principle in the story of Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss. Interestingly, theme and style combine in this category.

The compilation at hand traverses the road from style and plot, the main concerns of an uninitiated reader, to the technical aspects of stylistics and narratology — the area of study of a student of literature — with equal aplomb and should be useful to all those who wish to acquire insights into these enchanting domains, or wish to rely on clues to stylised writing.