Violence and the morality principle in select English novels from Northeast India

Abstract

At the third edition of the Bangalore Literature Festival, the writer Dhruba Hazarika from Assam claimed that most publishers prioritise printing those Northeast Indian English novels which depict the ongoing armed insurgency in specific parts of the region. If Hazarika’s assertion is true, many writers appear to have acceded to the publishing world’s preference because their books, at least on the surface, portray a comprehensive engagement with the socio-political turmoil characterised by hostility and bloodshed. However, some Northeast Indian English authors seem to be more absorbed in offering a novelistic critique of the society’s tendency to promptly denounce the use of violence, while simultaneously refraining from extolling nonviolence as a moral virtue. The present study deploys a genealogical analysis to ascertain if the select novels of Mitra Phukan, Easterine Kire, Ankush Saikia, Dhruba Hazarika, and Siddhartha Deb reflect Friedrich Nietzsche’s insight on the transitory nature of morality. These authors appear to have devised plots that refuse to accord a ‘transcendental signified’ to moral values, thereby duly recognising the historical process involved in instating specific socio-cultural values as righteous while denouncing others. This genealogical inquiry foregrounds two crucial aspects of the society’s traditional view on violence that physically or psychologically tortures individuals. First, it highlights the dynamic sociological politics that induces most people to develop a favourable opinion on or, at least, not condemn particular violent acts. Second, this genealogical approach links the civilisational necessity for violence to Sigmund Freud’s influential concept of the superego (the morality principle). This linkage points to the fact that the society is tacitly supporting those violent activities that sustain civilisation without overtly contradicting the dominant moral norms. Significantly, the Northeast Indian English writers uncover the complexities involved in using violence to influence or aid specific people in leading a life that neither threatens nor undermines the prevailing traditional culture and customs.