A Todorovian Reading of Edward Morgan Forster’s A passage to India (1924)
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Date
2022
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Publisher
Mouloud Mammeri University OF Tizi-Ouzou
Abstract
The present dissertation has examined the characters’ features and the dominant sentiments in Forster’s A passage to India (1924). The ultimate goal of the research is to understand the features of the English and the Indians as well as to study the emotions by which the 1920s colonial India is characterized. To that end, I have borrowed four theoretical concepts from Todorov’s essay entitled The Fear of Barbarians: Beyond the Clash of Civilizations (2010). The notions are ‘Barbarian’, ‘Civilized’, ‘Resentment’, and ‘Fear’. Todorov’s essay has proved to be adequate for my research on twofold levels. First, it helps to distinguish a collection of elements that an individual can utilize to evaluate a community’s behavior as barbarous or refined. Second, it shows the motivations that set people together by a common feeling. The major section of the dissertation is the ‘Result and Discussion’. The latter has been divided into three chapters. The first one is entitled ‘Historical Context and Biographical Elements’. It has analyzed the major events that shaped India since the establishment of the British East India Company. It has also studied the biography of Forster in the light of his tolerant and liberal attitude. The second chapter is entitled ‘A passage to India and 'Barbarism’\’Civilization’ in the Todorovian sense’. It has sought to display the motives making Mr. Heaslop and some members of the Anglo-Indian community fall into the category of the barbarian. Besides, it argues that the notion of ‘civilized’ can be epitomized by Dr. Aziz, Mr. Fielding, and Mrs. Moore. The third and last chapter is termed ‘The Sentiments of Fear and Resentment in the Narrative’. It has attempted to prove that the root of the Indians’ shared resentment is due to the English incivilities. It is mostly embodied by Mahmoud Ali, followed less intensely by other characters. Furthermore, it denotes that the English terror is motivated by the Indians’ resentment. At last, I have come to the conclusion that the conflictual connection between the Indians and the British goes to a very long time ago. What also comes from our analysis is that Forster’s liberal and loving personality have influenced the shape of the novel. Indeed, he appears to side with the Indians and severely criticizes his own people; that is, the English. I also deduce that on the one side, the world conventionally calls the ‘Civilized’ can in fact be the ‘Barbarian’. On the other side, the ‘Civilized’ are not those possessing wealth, power, or whatsoever. They, in fact, are those with the ability to respect others. Last, the West fear the resentment of those they used to rule, like India.
Description
54P. . 30cm+(cd)
Keywords
Barbarian, Civilized, Fear, Forster, Resentment, Liberalism.
Citation
Literature and Civilization