A thematic analysis of bapsi sidhwa’s water and arundhati roy’s the god of small things through muted group theory
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Date
2022
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UMT Lahore
Abstract
This study attempts to investigate Bapsi Sidhwa's Water and Arundhati Roy's The God of
Small Things through the lens of the Muted Group Theory. During the post- and pre
independence era, the subdominant groups were repressed and muted at the hands of the
dominant groups. This discriminatory approach of Indian institutionalized society forced the
muted groups to endure exploitation and suppression. This study highlights the factual truth,
about the hypocritical and hierarchal Indian-subcontinent society and seeks to investigate the
presence of the muted voices in Roy and Sidhwa's texts. This research examines muteness as
a broader phenomenon, which is only not restricted to women in these selected texts.
Furthermore, this study observes different forms of marginalization, muteness, and of
resistance, through which Sidhwa and Roy's subaltern characters came to know the factors
responsible for their voicelessness. This research employs the Muted Group Theory to deal
with the muted groups' muteness. Shirley Ardener and Edwin Ardener coined the term Muted
Group Theory in 1975. The Muted Group Theory portrays that society is under the control of
dominant groups. This research adopts the Thematic analysis, and themes play a significant
role in organizing data. The study of the texts reveal that the Muted Group Theory allows
Roy and Sidhwa's mute and marginalized characters to accept their significance and consider
themselves valuable entities of Indian-subcontinent society. The combination of the Muted
Group theory and Thematic analysis strengthens the research. This research contributes to the
post-colonial feminist study and cultural anthropology; it also interprets the relationship
between dominant and subdominant groups.