Echoes of Home: Exploring Identity in Manjushree Thapa’s The Tutor of History

Abstract

This paper explores the intricate dynamics of identity and belonging within the context of a strife-ridden Nepal of nineteen-ninety one, as illustrated in Manjushree Thapa’s novel The Tutor of History (2001). The narrative centers around Rishi Parajuli, a Nepali man who is internally dispersed and who struggles hard to grapple with his sense of selfhood and identity amid the disorienting realities of power games, corruption and loss. The character of Binita also stands out as a foil to Rishi and as one who challenges the male dominated space of belonging to build her own identity on her own terms. The paper highlights the different characters’ constant struggles with their particular Nepali origins, familial ties and the surrounding complications as well as the broader socio-political upheaval in Nepal, particularly during the Maoist rebellion. It successfully utilizes the Foucauldian concept of space as discussed in the article entitled “Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias” (1984) to discuss the events at Khaireni Tar, Kathmandu. The place objectifies a moving space of which the characters will always remain an inextricable part no matter where they go in future. The event of ‘election’ in the text also plays a vital role. It brings all the characters together for a cause and makes them inhabit, in Foucauldian terms, a “floating piece of space”, a postmodern space, and this is modern Nepal like any budding nation searching for stability that is a never ending process.