Question Numbers (9 to 12): The passage below is
accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage,
choose the best answer for each question.
For early postcolonial literature, the world of the novel
was often the nation. Postcolonial novels were usually
[concerned with] national questions. Sometimes the
whole story of the novel was taken as an allegory of the
nation, whether India or Tanzania. This was important
for supporting anti-colonial nationalism, but could also
be limiting – land-focused and inward-looking.
My new book “Writing Ocean Worlds” explores another
kind of world of the novel: not the village or nation, but
the Indian Ocean world. The book describes a set of
novels in which the Indian Ocean is at the centre of the
story. It focuses on the novelists Amitav Ghosh,
Abdulrazak Gurnah, Lindsey Collen and Joseph Conrad
[who have] centred the Indian Ocean world in the majority
of their novels. . . . Their work reveals a world that is
outward-looking – full of movement, border-crossing and
south-south interconnection. They are all very different
– from colonially inclined (Conrad) to radically anticapitalist
(Collen), but together draw on and shape a
wider sense of Indian Ocean space through themes,
images, metaphors and language. This has the effect of
remapping the world in the reader’s mind, as centred in
the interconnected global south. . . .
The Indian Ocean world is a term used to describe the
very long-lasting connections among the coasts of East
Africa, the Arab coasts, and South and East Asia. These
connections were made possible by the geography of
the Indian Ocean. For much of history, travel by sea
was much easier than by land, which meant that port
cities very far apart were often more easily connected
to each other than to much closer inland cities. Historical
and archaeological evidence suggests that what we now
call globalisation first appeared in the Indian Ocean.
This is the interconnected oceanic world referenced and
produced by the novels in my book. . . .
For their part Ghosh, Gurnah, Collen and even Conrad
reference a different set of histories and geographies
than the ones most commonly found in fiction in English.
Those [commonly found ones] are mostly centred in
Europe or the US, assume a background of Christianity
and whiteness, and mention places like Paris and New
York. The novels in [my] book highlight instead a largely
Islamic space, feature characters of colour and centralise
the ports of Malindi, Mombasa, Aden, Java and Bombay.
. . . It is a densely imagined, richly sensory image of a
southern cosmopolitan culture which provides for an
enlarged sense of place in the world.
This remapping is particularly powerful for the
representation of Africa. In the fiction, sailors and
travellers are not all European. . . . African, as well as
Indian and Arab characters, are traders, nakhodas (dhow
ship captains), runaways, villains, missionaries and
activists. This does not mean that Indian Ocean Africa
is romanticised. Migration is often a matter of force;
travel is portrayed as abandonment rather than
adventure, freedoms are kept from women and slavery
is rife. What it does mean is that the African part of the
Indian Ocean world plays an active role in its long, rich
history and therefore in that of the wider world.
On the basis of the nature of the relationship between
the items in each pair below, choose the odd pair
out:
Solution:
Passage Explanation:
Para 1: Early postcolonial literature often focused on the
nation as the main setting for novels, with stories frequently
serving as allegories for national issues in countries like
India or Tanzania. While this was crucial for supporting
anti-colonial nationalism, it was also limiting due to its
land-focused and inward-looking nature.
Para 2: The book “Writing Ocean Worlds” explores novels
centered around the Indian Ocean world, moving beyond
the typical village or national focus. It discusses the works
of novelists Amitav Ghosh, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Lindsey
Collen, and Joseph Conrad, who depict the Indian Ocean
as a hub of outward-looking activities like movement and
border-crossing. These novels offer diverse perspectives
and contribute to remapping the reader’s world view,
centering it in the interconnected global south.
Para 3: The term “Indian Ocean world” refers to the
historical and long-lasting connections among the coasts
of East Africa, the Arab regions, and South and East Asia.
Geographical features made sea travel easier than land
travel, leading to early forms of globalization. The book
highlights how these connections are represented in the
novels.
Para 4: The authors Ghosh, Gurnah, Collen, and Conrad
present different histories and geographies compared to
typical English fiction, which usually centers around
Europe or the US. Their novels focus on Islamic spaces,
characters of color, and important port cities like Malindi,
Mombasa, Aden, Java, and Bombay, offering a richly
sensory portrayal of a southern cosmopolitan culture.
Para 5: The novels discussed in the book effectively
remap the representation of Africa in literature. African,
Indian, and Arab characters play various active roles, from
traders to ship captains. While not romanticizing the
African part of the Indian Ocean world, acknowledging
issues like forced migration and slavery, the novels
emphasize Africa’s significant contribution to the history
of the region and the wider world.
Postcolonial novels : Border-crossing
The passage discusses how Indian Ocean novels
are characterized by their outward-looking nature
and their focus on border-crossing and
interconnectedness, which is why ‘Indian Ocean
novels : Outward-looking’ and ‘Indian Ocean world
: Slavery’ fit well within this context. ‘Postcolonial
novels : Anti-colonial nationalism’ is also consistent
with the description in the passage of postcolonial
novels often being concerned with national
questions. However, ‘Postcolonial novels : Bordercrossing’
is the odd one out because the passage
describes postcolonial novels as generally more
inward-looking and focused on national issues
rather than border-crossing.
Incorrect Answers:
1. Indian Ocean novels : Outward-looking: This is
consistent with the passage’s description of
Indian Ocean novels as focusing on movement,
border-crossing, and south-south
interconnection, making them outward-looking.
3. Indian Ocean world : Slavery: The passage
mentions that the Indian Ocean world, including
Africa, was involved in rich histories that included
slavery. This pairing correctly reflects one aspect
of the Indian Ocean world as presented in the
passage.
4. Postcolonial novels : Anti-colonial nationalism:
The passage mentions that postcolonial novels
were often concerned with national questions
and supported anti-colonial nationalism. This
pairing is accurate according to the passage.
