Subaltern Themes in the Novels of Anita Desai

Abstract

Anita Desai is a world renowned author and she has written many feminist novels. In many of her novels the theme of subaltern exists. In this paper the focus is on the subaltern themes in the novels of Anita Desai. The simple definition of Subaltern is that it is designated to the socially, politically, and geographically outside people. Subalterns are those people who are outside the hegemonic power structure. Like most of the novels by Desai, all the characters are subaltern. For instance, In Fire in the Mountain, the main protagonist is marginalized. These small incidents shows how subaltern themes are sprinkled in all her novels.