Rewriting Self in Contemporary Nepali Short Stories

Abstract

This study examines the idea of the Nepali self and claims that contemporary Nepali short stories have rewritten the self by taking departure after the People's Movement II in 2006. Before 2006, Nepali short stories attempted to present a unilinear self, meaning a coherent Nepali self-seeking within the national borders. The Nepali short stories focus on Nepali identity more than the self. A person wearing Nepali clothes, staying in Nepal, having fair skin, and belonging to certain castes, religions, and regions was more important than how much love and affection the person has for Nepal and Nepali. Because of this, people living in Terai, people from lower-caste communities, indigenous communities, and people beyond the Hindu religion were considered less Nepali. However, contemporary Nepali short stories have carried the stories of marginalized people and they have claimed new selves in Nepali. The research paper examines a few popular contemporary short stories like Bina Theeng’s “Aani Pemaa” (2020), Ramlal Joshi’s “Khel” (2016), Kumar Nagarkoti’s “Timro Mirtyuko Samachar” and “Metaphysic” (2018), Nayan Raj Pandey’s “Janani” (2021) and Durgaa Karki’s “Kumari Prasnaharu” and “Chaumin" (2020).The ideas of Michel Foucault, Jean-Francouis Lyotard, Robert Howell, and Richard Rorty have been used for developing a theoretical framework to examine self in contemporary Nepali short stories.

Keywords: self, diverse, elusiveness, power, freedom, indigenous, confusion