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Colonisation In A Passage To India

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This paper highlights the problematic relationship between the coloniser and the colonised in a colonial context as manifested in Forster 's novel, A Passage to
India. It also reveals the stereotypes with which Orientals are depicted and the constant process of 'formatting ' or brainwashing to which newcomers are subjected, in order to generate colonisers who are all the same. Further, it deals with the image of the land as being hostile to the colonisers, fighting them and intensifying their feelings of alienation and exile. The article particularly applies Albert Memmi 's theories in his book The Colonizer and The Colonized, as well as those of other cultural philosophers. Hopefully, this paper would generate further readings into Forster 's novels, especially A Passage to India, that depict the problematic issues of identity formation, race relations and complexities of colonial discourse in hybrid contexts.

Much has been written about Forster’s novel A Passage to India. However, the analysis of the text of the novel from a post-colonial perspective reveals the precision with which Forster depicted the socio-psychological dilemma of Anglo-Indians during the period of the British Raj. A close examination of Forster’s depiction of India will further our understanding of the psychological dilemma of Anglo-Indians who wish to call India home. In this article, I will highlight the process of ‘formatting’ (i.e. the process by which is created the coloniser and his demonised
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