Writers of the Indian Diaspora: V.S. Naipaul

Ever since he started his literary career in the late 50s, Nobel Laureate V.S. Naipaul has always been embroiled in controversies. As a dissector of civilizations, cultures and histories across the world, Naipaul has constantly interrogated post-colonial and post-imperial issues and realities that have shaped contemporary societies and their politics. From the West Indies and India to Africa, the Islamic world and South America, Naipaul has charted his speculative and sceptical journey across historical, geographical and cultural space to include virtually every possible facet of man’s relationship with power, authority and oppression, and has invariably addressed himself to some of the most unpalatable and incendiary issues facing human destiny in a world marked by inauthenticity, multiracialism and the huge process of dispersal across continents and national boundaries. His literary contribution has received the highest recognition possible. The present study as it works through Diaspora and Diasporic identification and Naipaul’s placement in it, provides fresh insights into Naipaul’s role and situation as a writer, and locates his work within the dominant theories and critical practices of our time.