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- Title
Free Will vs. Determinism: An Existential Reading of Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland.
- Authors
Sharada, A.; Usha, N.
- Abstract
The 9/11 attacks on the twin towers in U.S.A, was a kind of inflection point in American history. Many Americans, who had been led by the illusion of American power and global reach and enjoyed a sense of invincibility, were shattered, as they began to sense the precarious nature of their existence. Confronted by a bleak prospect of the world, they felt compelled to put behind them their naïve optimism and simplistic dichotomies with which they had been accustomed to view the world. Post 9/11 traumatic phase, was a period of deep introspection for Americans as they began to confront the tragic nature of their existence. Lacan had once said, "... the philosopher's cognito is at the centre of the mirage that renders modern man so sure of being himself even in his uncertainties about himself " (Ecrits, p.167). Written in an existential vein, Lahiri's The Lowland (2013), holds a special appeal for the twenty-first century readers, as it dwells on modern man's perplexity in the face of a major personal. Though the backdrop for most of the story is mid twentieth century India and America, the historical context of The Lowland is very contemporary as Lahiri engages with some of the dominant ideological discourses of our time.
- Subjects
LOWLAND, The (Book); LAHIRI, Jhumpa, 1967-; FREE will &; determinism in literature; EXISTENTIALISM; LITERARY criticism
- Publication
Labyrinth: An International Refereed Journal of Postmodern Studies, 2015, Vol 6, Issue 4, p47
- ISSN
0976-0814
- Publication type
Literary Criticism