Angadno Pag

Structuralism

Hello Friends,

There is nothing can be understood when it is isolated. Meaning is always relational and conventional. Word signifies something when it is in group of meaning and that’s why everything must be seen in the larger structure as a part of it. This is what Structuralists want to say. They are looking for bigger structure a there is always common skeleton in structure yet somehow it is highly deep.

“Angadno Pag” is a novel by Haresh Dholakiya which can largely be considered as a confessional novel and satire on education too of course but what makes it exceptional or remarkable is it’s narration. Writer uses different kinds of signs to signify something which goes beyond the narration or rather we can say that writer has rooted deeply in this novel which is not at surface level.

In any fiction narration plays very significant role where the style of narration makes a selection everything about how the story is told, experienced and understood. Same here, Haresh Dholakiya tries his structure as his one of major characters Kishan is reading a diray.Normally many time we have seen or noted that diary reading becomes one of very common day-to-day life events but writer makes this diary reading very significant as Kishan is reading confessional diary of his school teacher Mr.Dave. Numbers of writers used to explore their novels, dramas or poems in flashback yet it is very crucial point to come across that how Haresh Dholakiya is trying to unfold this flashback also. Many times he uses very symbolic archetypes in novel and symbolizes something deeper too. He says that

“કિશોરની આંખો અપાર્થિવ બની ગઈ. વર્તમાનકાળને ચીરી ભૂતકાળના પ્રાંગણમાં પહોચી ગઈ.”

Many movies are also deals with this archetype but structuralists believes that  

Often it’s not we who shapes words,

But the words we use that shape us.

Before discussing about structuralist approach in this novel let's get clear idea about 

(1)What is 'Structuralism'? 
(2)Who has introduced this criticism and why?
(3)How structuralism helps in understanding narration in larger context?

In the very third paragraph of the novel writer makes our focus upon the poster of the movie ‘Sholey’and at the very last we are seen that Sholey’s poster has been destroyed and poster of ‘Titanic’ is been posted to the wall of theatre. Very surface level everyone can understand that writer uses this archetypes as Sholey is tragic yet have a kind of relaxation at the very end and our novel might also leads us towards this. But deeper structure works here that when reader are shown the poster of Titanic, writer wants to show immutable struggle between Classicism and modernism through the characters followed as Jyotindra Shah and Mr. Kiran Dave.  If we look at the very classic novel ‘Frankenstein’ by Mary Shelley it also refers to struggle between classicism and modernism is shown but the way Haresh Dholakiya has described is quite phenomenal.  One or another way Titanic is also representation of modern invention or also of modern ideas where Titanic is representation of Mr. Dave.

Characters can be also stereotypes as we know that here Kishan is very close to that character.

Language speaks us rather than we speak the language.

Confessional novel:

Fictionally, the confessional story is a story written, in the first person, about emotionally fraught and morally charged situations in which a fictional character is caught. These stories may be anything from thinly veiled recounting of the writer's life to completely fictional works.