Resistance against Western Cultural Imperialism inThe Tree Bride

Abstract

The main purpose of this research is to show the resistance against western cultural imperialism in Bharati Mukherjee’s The Tree Bride. Bharati Mukherjee presents the counter discourse just opposite than colonial literature in the representation of west and east. The text is a story of Tara Chatterjee, the protagonist as well as the narrator of the novel, who is shaped according to ancient Indian myths, customs, and traditions. Her cultural identity is formed according to the belief and religion of her native country India though she has been living in America. She picks up the story of heroism from her own legend Tara Lata, from her own cultural heritage and native place connecting with own identity and cultural and national glory. Mukherjee even shows the pitiful life of English street life through John Mist as if it is like the representation of non- western people in colonial literature as the counter discourse against western supremacy in literature. The politic of picking the story from San Francisco to Bengal by focusing and valorizing the Indian rituals and tradition as well as by giving the counter discourse against western literature in the representation of west and east is the manifestation of Mukherjee’s cultural awareness as well as a challenge against the cultural imperialism of west. This research shows how Bharati Mukherjee has resisted against cultural imperialism throughout the text The Tree Bride. As this research is studied through post colonial method it captures the various issues, dimension and study areas of post colonial literature such as cultural diversity, hybridity, Diasporas, identity crisis, ethnical and racial issues etc.