Decolonial Re-existence through Animist Realism: Water Spirits and Shamanic Mantras in Janice Pariat's Boats on Land

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.22.1.2023.3974

Keywords:

Khasi, decolonial, Indigenous epistemology, more-than-human, mutual coexistence, animist realism, creative writing, Meghalaya India

Abstract

Colonialism's deleterious impact on Indigenous epistemologies has engendered an exigent concern in the project of decoloniality, calling for a re-existence of marginalized cosmovisions. To accomplish this, an epistemic delinking from the paradigm of Eurocentric discourses is imperative in the interest of a comprehensive appreciation and recognition of Indigenous knowledge systems. In this vein, the present study employs the literary trope of animist realism to analyze two short stories from the anthology Boats on Land by the Khasi author, Janice Pariat. Her creative writing explores the animist philosophy of the Khasi community who dwell in the humid tropical State of Meghalaya, India. Through an attentive reading of the animist belief in water spirits and shamanic mantra rituals, this paper critiques colonial narratives of Khasi animist worldviews as "satanic", "supernatural", or psycho-pathological aberrations. The paper presents Khasi animist wisdom as a sophisticated and equitable principle of mutual coexistence and respectful relationality between human and more-than-human realms, replete with spiritual, ecological, and cosmological overtones. Indigenous animist epistemologies are indispensable as sustainable alternatives to the knowledge structures of colonial modernity. The present study contributes to the envisioning of a coexistence of Indigenous and Western knowledge systems in the spirit of mutual recognition and constructive engagement within an evolving epistemological landscape in the ongoing decolonial enterprise.

Author Biographies

Sampda Swaraj, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India

Sampda Swaraj is a full-time PhD Scholar at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. Her research interests encompass Indian Indigenous literature, New Animist philosophy, Critical Posthumanism and Environmental Humanities. She has presented papers at several international seminars and conferences. Currently, her research is centred on Indigenous animist realist literature from the Northeastern states of India. As a member of a non-Indigenous ethnic background, she deeply values and embraces a commitment to decolonial praxis in her research. Her passion lies in the realms of cultural and literary studies that actively challenge and subvert (neo)colonial divisions to recognize the intricate ecological relationality between humans and the more-than-human world.

Binod Mishra, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India

Binod Mishra is a Professor of English at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee. His extensive scholarly contributions to critical literature are well-known, with several published papers in journals of national and international renown. His critical scholarship is complemented by his poetic flair, earning him numerous prestigious awards, including the Citation of the Brightest Honour by the International Sufi Centre, Bangalore, 2020. Belonging to a non-Indigenous ethnic background, his scholarly pursuits revolve around creating and nurturing decolonial paradigms of pluralistic and inclusive academic spaces.  His endeavours have garnered recognition, being listed among the top 25 Indian English Poets for their contribution to fostering communal harmony and cosmic humanism. This accolade further underscores his dedication to literary creativity that promotes social harmony and empathy.

References

Abram, D. (2013). The invisibles: Toward a phenomenology of the spirits. In G. Harvey (Ed.), The handbook of contemporary animism (pp. 124-133). Routledge.

Acharya, P. S. S. (2003). Eternity of sound and the science of mantras: Sabda Brahm: mantra vijnana. (R. Joshi, Trans.). Yugantar Chetna Press.

Andaya, B. W. (2016). Rivers, oceans, and spirits: Water cosmologies, gender, and religious change in Southeast Asia. TRaNS: Trans-Regional and National Studies of Southeast Asia, 4, 239-263. https://doi.org/10.1017/trn.2016.2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/trn.2016.2

Barad, K. M. (2007). Meeting the universe halfway: Quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv12101zq DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv12101zq

Bareh, H. (1964). The history and culture of the Khasi people. [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Gauhati

Benitez, C. J. R., & Lundberg, A. (2022). Tropical Materialisms: Toward Decolonial Poetics, Practices and Possibilities. eTropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics, 21(2), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.21.2.2022.3929 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.21.2.2022.3929

Bennett, J. (2010). Vibrant matter: A political ecology of things. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822391623 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv111jh6w

Burchett, P. (2008). The ‘magical’ language of mantra. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 76(4), 807-843. https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfn089 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfn089

Carrier, J. (1995). Occidentalism: Images of the West. Oxford University Press.

Chakraborty, S., & Mukhopadhyay, A. (2022). Spiritual materialism/ material spiritualism: Shakta tantric approaches to matter. eTropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics, 21(2), 43-64. https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.21.2.2022.3897

Chao, S., & Enari, D. (2021). Decolonising climate change: A call for beyond-human imaginaries and knowledge generation. eTropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics, 20(2), 32–54. https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.20.2.2021.3796 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.20.2.2021.3796

Clifford, J. (2001). Indigenous articulations. The Contemporary Pacific, 13(2), 467-507. https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2001.0046 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2001.0046

Devy, G. N. (Ed.). (2021). Environment and belief systems. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367814274 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367814274

Escobar, A. (2007). Worlds and knowledges otherwise: The Latin American modernity/coloniality research program. Cultural Studies, 21(2-3), 179-210. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601162506 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601162506

Garuba, H. (1993, March 13). Ben Okri: Animist realism and the famished genre. The Guardian, p. 23.

Garuba, H. (2003). Explorations in animist materialism: Notes on reading/writing African literature, culture, and society. Public Culture, 15(2), 261-285. https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-15-2-261 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-15-2-261

Grosfoguel, R. (2011). Decolonizing post-colonial studies and paradigms of political-economy: Transmodernity, decolonial thinking, and global coloniality. Transmodernity: Journal of Peripheral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World, 1(1), 1-38. https://doi.org/10.5070/T411000004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5070/T411000004

Hallowell, A. I. (1960). Ojibwa ontology, behavior, and world view. In S. Diamond (Ed.), Culture in history: Essays in honor of Paul Radin (pp. 19-52). Columbia University Press. Reprinted in G. Harvey (Ed.) (2002), Readings in Indigenous religions (pp. 18-49). Continuum.

Hanson, A. J. (2020). Teaching Indigenous literatures for decolonization: Challenging learning, learning to challenge. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 66(2), 207-222. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55016/ojs/ajer.v66i2.68509

Harvey, G. (2006). Animism: Respecting the living world. Columbia University Press.

Harvey, G. (Ed.). (2013). The handbook of contemporary animism. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315728964 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315728964

Ingold, T. (2000). The perception of the environment: Essays on livelihood, dwelling, and skill. Routledge.

Kharmawphlang, D. (2000/2001). In search of Tigermen: The were-tiger tradition of the Khasis. India International Centre Quarterly, 27/28(4/1), 160-176. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23005708

Lindley, S. E., Carlson, E., & Sheikh, J. (2000). Psychotic symptoms in posttraumatic stress disorder. CNS Spectrums, 5(9), 51-57. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1092852900021659 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1092852900021659

Lyngdoh, M. (2016). Transformation, tradition, and lived realities: Vernacular belief worlds of the Khasis of Northeastern India. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Tartu]. University of Tartu Press.

Lyngdoh, M. (2018). Water spirit possession among the Khasis: Representation of fear through narratives. International Quarterly for Asian Studies, 49(3-4), 81-102.

Mignolo, W. D. (2011). The darker side of western modernity: Global futures, decolonial options. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822394501 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv125jqbw

Mignolo, W. D., & Walsh, C. E. (2018). On decoloniality: Concepts, analytics, praxis. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822371779 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv11g9616

Narayan, M. (2012, October 6). Review: Boats on land. The Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/review-boats-on-land/story-aIlPGI2mBwg6QCOPI1tP5L.html

Pariat, J. (2012). Boats on land: A collection of short stories. Penguin Random House India.

Pariat, J. (2021, July 4). Decolonising creative writing: It’s about not conforming to techniques of the western canon. Scroll.in. https://scroll.in/article/999215/decolonising-creative-writing-its-about-not-conforming-to-techniques-of-the-western-canon

Quijano, A. (2000). Coloniality of power, Eurocentrism, and Latin America. Nepantla: Views from South, 1(3), 533-580. https://doi.org/10.1177/0268580900015002005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0268580900015002005

Santos, B. de S. (2016). Epistemologies of the South and the future. From the European South, 1, 17-29.

Shiva, V. (1993). Monocultures of the mind: Perspectives on biodiversity and biotechnology. Zed Books.

Snyder, S. (2007). New streams of religion: Fly-fishing as a lived religion of nature. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 75(4), 896-922. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40005968 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfm063

Spivak, G. C. (1988). Can the subaltern speak? In C. Nelson & L. Grossberg (Eds.), Marxism and the interpretation of culture (pp. 271-313). University of Illinois Press.

Tylor, E. B. (1871/1977). Primitive Culture: Researches into the development of mythology, philosophy, religion, language, art, and custom (vol. 1). John Murray.

Vávrová, D. (2022). Graun Em Pulap Long Pipia: Rubbish, sorcery, and spiritual healing, Papua New Guinea. eTropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics, 21(2), 65–76. https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.21.2.2022.3884 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.21.2.2022.3884

Downloads

Published

2023-07-03

How to Cite

Swaraj, S., & Mishra, B. (2023). Decolonial Re-existence through Animist Realism: Water Spirits and Shamanic Mantras in Janice Pariat’s Boats on Land. ETropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics, 22(1), 130–154. https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.22.1.2023.3974

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 1 (2023): Decolonizing the Tropics: Part One

Section

Literatures and Literary Analyses

License

Copyright (c) 2023 CC-BY

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who submit articles to this journal agree to the following terms:

1. Authors are responsible for ensuring that any material that has influenced the research or writing has been properly cited and credited both in the text and in the Reference List (Bibliography). Contributors are responsible for gaining copyright clearance on figures, photographs or lengthy quotes used in their manuscript that have been published elsewhere.

2. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License that allows others to share and adapt the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

3. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository, or publish it in a book), with proper acknowledgement of the work's initial publication in this journal.

4. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access or The Open Access Citation Advantage). Where authors include such a work in an institutional repository or on their website (i.e., a copy of a work which has been published in eTropic, or a pre-print or post-print version of that work), we request that they include a statement that acknowledges the eTropic publication including the name of the journal, the volume number and a web-link to the journal item.

5. Authors should be aware that the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License permits readers to share (copy and redistribute the work in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the work) for any purpose, even commercially, provided they also give appropriate credit to the work, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. They may do these things in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests you or your publisher endorses their use.