Existential Quandary: Struggle for Power and Space in Githa Hariharan’s In Times of Siege

Abstract

India is known and appreciated for its mosaic culture. The diverse cultural patterns of the land are decided by different religions, castes, classes and creed which divide the people of India into various strata. There is constantly a cultural pull, a power-play among the people of these diverse groups for their existence and in this power-play the affluent people try to occupy the centre thereby driving the weak to the periphery. This centre-margin paradigm is one of the characteristics of Postcolonial Literature which faithfully reflects hegemony and suppression co-existing in the society. The minorities are marginalized in all respects and socially committed writers give their voice against this through their literary works. Thus emerged the Subaltern Literature, which addressed the sufferings of the minority as the part of their struggle. Githa Hariharan, being a Post-colonial writer, addresses this conflict that prevails in the Indian society in her critically acclaimed novel In Times of Siege.