Subalternity: A question in Amitav Ghosh and Khaled Hosseini
The term, subalternity, remarkably and aptly employed by Spivak, to highlight the predicament of those who are allotted 'sub' or 'secondary' space in the human society. Subaltern is used as an umbrella term for all those who are marginalized and deprived off the 'voice' to 'speak' Spivak makes it clear that subaltern can't 'speak' even though the subaltern attempts. Because the opposite one, the centre, against whom often the subaltern speaks, ensures the subaltern should go unheard, whatever way possible. However, the subaltern 'speaks' though 'speech' ultimately, reaches to the people to appal stupendously. That is it is often the destruction, self immolation or sacrifice, which draws the attention of the people to the subaltern. Amitav Ghosh and Khaled Hosseini have picturized in the works under study this very process and journey of the subaltern characters, who are suppressed and denied speech. The suppressed struggle very hard, with every convenient possible way and agency, but fail (foiled, frustrated) to achieve the desired end. This paper attempts to highlight Amitav Ghosh in The Hungry Tide (2004) and Sea of Poppies (2008) and Khaled Hosseini in The Kite Runner (2003) and The Thousand Splendid Suns (2006) in their endeavours to disinter the subaltern voice with the help of representation and focus on the predicament of the subaltern. The two writers try to offend any agency that fosters oppression, by situating the subaltern characters within the marginalizing framework of socio political and economic milieu of a society. This paper tries to underscore the characters within the hierarchies in relationship with other hierarchies, without making narrative of a particular one 'grand'