| Sumario: | Chetan Bhagat is one of the contemporary best-selling Indian-English authors. His first novel "Five Point Someone" (2004) proved to be a commercial success. Since 2004 Chetan Bhagat has published ten works from which two are non-fiction. Five novels have been adapted into Bollywood films. The themes portrayed in his works vary from class differences, the arranged marriage tradition, the Caste system, struggle to get into one of the most prestigious Indian universities up to clashes between Hindus and Muslims. A more detailed analysis of contemporary problems of Indian society is presented in non-fiction works "What Young India Wants" (2012) and "Making India Awesome" (2015). These collections of essays, columns, and articles help to get an additional insight into the author's novels. From the technical point of view, the author's style remains the same in all his works, both fictional and nonfictional. One of the characteristic features is the constant use of the first-person narrative or the many "I's" through which the story is narrated. This aspect is of particular interest in the research as it reveals how the presence of a narrator merges with that of the author. Similarly, the implied reader of the narrator merges with that of the author. The result is ambiguity created by the author Chetan Bhagat. From narratological point of view, there is a case of extratextual situation caused by the knowledge about the author and a particular historical moment. This knowledge interferes with the reader's perception of a text. The examples of such extratextual situation are found in novels "Five Point Someone" (2004) and "2 States: The Story of My Marriage" (2009) that are loosely based on the author's own biography. These include Chetan Bhagat's experience at Indian Institute of Technology and his struggle to marry the girl of his choice opposing the arranged marriage tradition. The novel "The 3 Mistakes of My Life" (2009) is influenced by real-life events. The Godhra train burning occurred in 2002 in Godhra, India, and is revealed through the eyes of the main character Govind. The research draws parallels between the works of Chetan Bhagat and those published by Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. These examples are revealed through the prism of intertextual references. Such title examples as "What Young India Wants" and "Open Letter to Sonia Gandhi from Young India" make intertextual references to Gandhi's work "Young India" (1924-1926). These references are not coincidental as, according to the Indian literary critic Mehrotra (2003), Gandhi and Nehru helped to shape the basics of Indian-English literature with their own works. The question, however, is open: whom is the author and narrator addressing its main message to?
|
|---|