Featured Book: Of Varying Chromosomes



Book: Of Varying Chromosomes

Author: Mandira Mitra

Publisher: Exceller Books

Calcutta in Amitav Ghosh’s “The Calcutta Chromosome” stands at the juncture of subalternity and postcolonialism to open a space for resistance against the hegemonic discourse of Western Medicine. This book examines the construction of that space using the Calcutta Chronotope, uncovering the process with the help of a short narratological enquiry. “The Calcutta Chromosome” traces the journey of Ronald Ross’s malaria research by putting together bits and pieces of information from diaries and journal entries. The want for coherence and continuity is the hallmark of plot construction in “The Calcutta Chromosome”. By identifying similarities between illness narratives and the narrative structure of “The Calcutta Chromosome”, this study explores the interplay in illness narratives between continuity, its disruption, and the various ways of coping with the latter, while navigating Calcutta as an urban space. What happens when the present is so different from the past that subjects experience themselves as “others”? This is the question that the book attempts to answer.

Mandira Mitra is a professor of English Literature at Taki Government College.

Email: mcmandira@gmail.com



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