POSTHUMANISM AND THE SUBALTERN: REIMAGINING MARGINALIZED VOICES IN THE MINISTRY OF UTMOST HAPPINESS

Abstract

This paper investigates the intersection of posthumanism and subaltern theory in Arundhati Roy's "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness" (2017) with regard to the representation of subaltern voices and non-human entities. The novel represents those characters who, while being historically silenced and erased, resist such oppression in acts of survival, transformation, and defiance. Adopting the qualitative approach, this article establishes that both posthumanism and the subaltern facilitate a set of new readings pertaining to Roy's interlinking identities in a fluid sense. The present study contends that Roy critically deconstructs humanist discourses in lending voice and self to the subaltern. Roy's contribution towards the postcolonial discourse of identity and power is situated in the article's discussion on the thematics of silencing, resistance, and political agency. Ultimately, Roy's work remaps the boundaries of human and non-human to gain a more subtle perception of resistance in contemporary postcoloniality.