The representation of the Other: Nineteenth century novels on the relationship between Great Britain and India. A reading of A Passage to India By E.M Forster and Coolie by Mulk Raj Anand.

Abstract

This dissertation aims at analysing the controversial relationship between Great Britain and India in the Nineteenth century. It is divided into three parts: the first chapter studies India’s History during the two centuries of the British colonization, from the arrival of Great Britain (1707) to the independence of India and the formation of Pakistan (1947) . The analysis is based on the comparison of two crucial books: Storia dell’India written by Michelguglielmo Torri (Italian professor and scholar of ‘History of Asia’ in Turin) in 2000 and Orientalism written by Edward W. Said (Professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University) in 1978. The second chapter focuses on the analysis of the relationship between the British and the Indians through the British novel A Passage to India written by E.M Forster in 1924. In addition some shorts stories by Rudyard Kipling are examined since he was born in Bombay but was educated in United Kingdom, so he incarnated the union of these two different cultures. On the other hand, the last chapter is dedicated to the study of the Indian novel Coolie written by Mulk Raj Anand in 1936, which is highly critical against the British domination in India. To conclude, this dissertation tries to analyse the two different points of view and attitude about the British colonization and its consequences for both India and Great Britain as far as History and literature are concerned. Through the study of two distinct authors (the former was British and the latter was Indian) it is possible to explore this deep and debatable issue from the perspective of both the colonizer and the colonized.