Manifestation of Collective Memory in The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh

Abstract

The collective memory of the past is a potent tool that goes beyond bringing conscious behavioural changes at an individual level, instead, it gradually consolidates into cultural and social conscience at a massive level. The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh lucidly portrays this enormity of collective memory of crucial past incidents starting from the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885 to the resurgence of democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 1996. These historical memories that collectively shape the political future of the citizens in Burma and India impact each individual differently by apparently benefiting some while adversely affecting others. For instance, Queen Supalayat embeds the memories of the deceit and conspiracy of Britishers to usurp King Thebaw’s Glass Palace in Burma in 1885 while people like Rajkumar, elephant caretakers, and teakwood businessmen like Saya John who were involved in the British-led commercialisation of timber in Burma, remain less perturbed and see the event as a blessing in disguise that allowed them to mint unhindered profits in their businesses. Nevertheless, the memories of promises of progress and subjugation by colonisers in the Indian subcontinent become implicit collective memories of the masses that unravel in multiple ways in the novel as manifested by the distinct journeys of various characters. This research paper attempts to analyse and shed light on the cognition and assimilation of entangled shared collective memory among the 19th and 20th-century masses living in the Indian subcontinent through the journey of characters in this novel.