Critique of essentialist culure in Bhupi Sherchan's selected poems

Abstract

This research paper tries to examine Bhupi Sherchan's selected poems in the light of new historicism and cultural materialism to reveal how his poems critique essentialist culture. It presents how power makes people define themselves accordingly ignoring the lived experiences of people in order to control and restrict them. This research further clarifies Sherchan's decosmeticization of the romanticized history of Nepal as a matter of pride and saga of bravery as identical to being Nepali. Nepali people identify themselves as brave in comparison to others. So, the poet deliberately satires the power whhich made them think that way, presenting the agonies of everyday lives of the people. The representation of people by power's imaginations are normalized andtaken for granted. Culture as constructions or power's imaginations needs to be examined. Sherchan as a litterateur, interrogates and challenges such assumptions and presents enough ground to provide alternative ideas of being Nepali. To prove the major argument, insights from theorists such as Stephen Greenblatt, Catherine Gallagher, Michael Foucault and Raymond Williams are used. Keywords: Essentialist culture; power; history; identity; hegemony; nationhood