Hidden Scriptures and Intertextual Allusions in Githa Hariharan’s The Thousand Faces of Night and When Dreams Travel

Abstract

Julia Kristeva’s concept of “a mosaic of quotations” is at the core of “intertextuality” and intertextuality has become a powerful literary strategy in Githa Hariharan’s novels The Thousand Faces of Night and When Dreams Travel. Allusion is an indirect reference to some event, person or thing, or an artistic work, whose relevance is not explained by the author, but it relies on the readers’ familiarity with what is thus mentioned. Hariharan has skilfully woven the novels with allusions and anecdotes from great Indian epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana, and the famous The Thousand and One Nights or Arabian Nights. However, a close reading reveals several hidden allusions to Christian themes. They are not merely decorative references but interpretive frameworks that deepen the psychological and moral dimensions of her works. Her female protagonists parallel both mythological and Biblical women, thereby bridging cultures and belief systems and enriching feminist discourse. This paper “Hidden Scriptures and Intertextual Allusions in Githa Hariharan’s The Thousand Faces of Night and When Dreams Travel” examines the hidden scriptural references and intertextual allusions in the two chosen novels. In these novels, sacred texts and secular experiences intersect, and an intertextual reading brings to light the narrative craftsmanship of this contemporary Indian English writer.