Migration, Displacement and Dispossession as a Theme of the Novel Dweepa (Island)

Abstract

Blue Humanities is an interdisciplinary research area which explores interactions between man and water through social, cultural, political, historical, ethical and theoretical perspectives. The term 'blue' in blue humanities signifies a fluid material which challenges land-based dominance of green epistemologies that are confined to terrestrial spaces. Blue Humanities uses hydrological approaches to understand the connection between man and nature as against terrestrial spaces like cartographic or national borders. The proposed research paper uses the blue humanities lens to analyze the novel 'Dweepa' (Island) written by Na D'Souza. The story revolves around the theme of migration, displacement and dispossession of the marginalized due to the construction of the Linganamakki dam across the river Sharavathi in the Western Ghats. That promises greater good, though for the people living in the surroundings, it will eventually lead to the tragic end of the poor and hapless protagonist Ganapayya, a traditional farmer, his wife Nagini and his father Duggajja, since the village in which they lived submerges due to heavy rains and floods. The proposed research study uses content and thematic analysis techniques to discuss the novel 'Dweepa' by incorporating theoretical frameworks such as subalternity, otherness and alterity to portray through a deeply personal, yet universally shared experience. This study shows how processes of social change like modernization and urbanization cause both physical and psychological problems to the people who become victims of such unpredicted transformation.