Power/Knowledge Dynamics, the Politics of Domination and the Assertion of Identity by the Oppressed: Amish's Shiva Trilogy in Perspective

Abstract

In Amish's Shiva Trilogy, the crucially significant issue of identity is intimately associated with the dynamics of power and knowledge. While Meluha attempts to discursively construct the identities of the other sections of the Indian society in order to perpetuate its power structures, those oppressed groups assert their respective racial, ethnic or national identities, thereby questioning and contesting this politics of representation and subordination. Hence, by liberating the marginalized voices instead of endorsing the dominance of any single discourse, Amish has rendered his trilogy a polyphonic⁷ text, a site where the dialogic interaction of multiple discourses continuously re-determine and re-define the matrix of power.