Revisiting Mayyazhi in a Post-Colonialist Perspective

The smuggling of colonial ideologies is not limited to the historical monuments considered remnants of the colonial period and this colonial ideology is being imposed on the old colonial countries under the guise of literature. The biggest example of this is On the Banks of the Mayyazhi written by M. Mukundan, one of the best-selling novels of all time in Malayalam.  What is widely seen in this novel, entitled an anti-colonial text, is the romanticization of colonialism. The novel, which tells the story of the French occupation of Mahe today, is the final stage of the freedom struggle. The novel On the Banks of the Mayyazhi has marked the impact of the French occupation on the socio-cultural spheres of Mahe, as well as the direct effects of colonial atrocities

On the Banks of the Mayyazhi is the story of some families in French-occupied Mahe. All the young people in the place are firmly opposed to colonialism. At the same time, the older people of the place were supportive of colonial rule and highly romanticized the colonial system, and they analyzed it from an aesthetic point of view. But throughout the novel, the characters Kanaran and Dasan oppose this colonialist perspective of their elders. The author introduces his work by looking at life in Colonial Mahe from an anti-colonial perspective. However, the novel provides the opposite effect by romanticizing anti-colonial characters such as Dasan and Kanaran. The novel contains more details about the romance of French rule in Mahe. The city of Mahe, with its French name, evokes the charm of the old world. There are Christian churches and many Hindu temples mentioned in the novel. The story describes the first revolution when activists removed the national flag from one of the government agencies. This revolution was certainly a failure when the French Navy came and activists fled across the Mahe Bridge. However, the second and final revolution was successful, and the French rulers fled by boat.

The characters in this novel can be divided into three categories based on colonialism. Elder Saive and Leslie are characters in this category. The second category is the group that is colonized but engaged in a regular battle against colonialism without being able to adapt to it. Dasan, Kanaran, and Achu are such characters. But the third category of characters is the most important and rated in this research. Because they are the victims of colonialism but adapt to it. They see the colonial relics as a great contribution of the French and are in complete admiration for them. Dasan`s grandmother Kurumbi Amma, the central character, Unni Nair, the local bar owner, and chief, and Kunjanan are some of the characters. However, the depiction of the character of Kurumbi Amma completely defeats the original purpose of the novel. Our writer, who is known for his extraordinary character creation, exploited the character of Kurumbi Amma to create an incredible catharsis.

The characters in this novel can be divided into three categories based on colonialism. Elder Saive and Leslie are characters in this category. The second category is the group that is colonized but engaged in a regular battle against colonialism without being able to adapt to it. Dasan, Kanaran, and Achu are such characters. But the third category of characters is the most important and rated in this research. Because they are the victims of colonialism but adapt to it. They see the colonial relics as a great contribution of the French and are in complete admiration for them. Dasan`s grandmother Kurumbi Amma, the central character, Unni Nair, the local bar owner, and chief, and Kunjanan are some of the characters. However, the depiction of the character of Kurumbi Amma completely defeats the original purpose of the novel. Our writer, who is known for his extraordinary character creation, exploited the character of Kurumbi Amma to create an incredible catharsis.

As a writer, he was successful to bring his work to a large number of audiences. But when it is interpreted from an anti-colonial point of view, the novel cannot be left uncritical. This is because the portrayal of the character of Kurumbi Amma is a complete romanticization of the scourge of colonialism. Kurumbi Amma, who was deeply in love with the French occupation period, can be seen enjoying every moment of that period immensely. Kurumbi Amma had a great deal of affection and love for the characters who symbolized colonialism, such as Leslie and Big Saive. Kurumbi Amma sees the freedom struggle waged by her grandson Dasan and his friend Kanaran as unnecessary. Moreover, Kurumbi Amma views the rule of the French as a great thing and its opposition to them as a great ungratefulness. Here the character of Kurumbi Amma works in stark contrast to the character of Dasan. But the anti-colonial politics put forward by Dasan's character are sidelined when the character of Kurumbi Amma and the hypersensitivity it creates sinks deep into the reader's mind. In other words, colonialism is romanticized and highly sanctified through the character of Kurumbi Amma. When we see the author describing the period after the end of French rule in the novel, we feel that there is no greater idea in the world than colonialism. The author describes the nostalgia of the colonial past in an extremely aesthetic way. It's a message to the reader that colonialism should never end. Not only the character of Kurumbi Amma but also the minor characters like Unni Nair and Kunjanan convey a similar message.

The portrayal of another character, Leslie, can also be seen as contributing to the romanticization of colonialism. Leslie's portrayal of the post-independence myth has been portrayed in a way that is extremely sympathetic to readers. Concerns about what the future holds for the colonial aristocracy at the end of colonialism will only serve to obscure the real black face of colonial terror. It is important to think from a post-colonial point of view how such characters, who are symbols of colonialism, are trivialized even though a section of the population has infiltrated their lives and imposed everything on them, including their language, culture, and diet. The situation is no different in the novel Mischiefs of God, which tells the rest of Mayyazhi's story. If it's Leslie in the novel On the Banks of the River Mayyazhi, it's Alphonsachan in the novel Mischiefs of God. Alphonsachan's condition after the French left Mayyazhi is such that it evokes a strong sympathy in the minds of the readers. M. Mukundan writes, “Alphonsachan's house did not have colored lights that Christmas, and when the smell of meat and cake wafted from the houses of other lawmakers, there was no fire in the kitchen”. (236)

Dr. Jobin Chamakkala analyzes the character of father Alphonse as a symbol of a wounded soul in his famous article The wounds of Father Alphonse. He writes, “Alphonsachan is a symbol of the wounded soul. That heart of knowledge and tenderness, with its natural holiness, pervades the whole Mayyazhi. "(15)

The scholar, Dr. Jobin Chamakala presents Alphonsachan in his essay in the same way as M. Mukundan. It is very easy to transmit romanticized colonial thinking to any ordinary reader. As a post-colonial writer, the novel should have focused on what happened to the colonized after colonialism and not on what happened to the colonizers after colonialism. Moreover, the fall of the post-colonial aristocracy must be portrayed as an inevitable fall. Here the opposite way of portrayal shares the idea that colonial rule should never have ended.

“In Malayalam literature of the post-colonial period, the interrogation of colonialism as an intellectual, cultural or political phenomenon is very rarely attempted. An outstanding exception to this general trend is the two novels by M. Mukundan, On the Banks of the Mayyazhi, and Both these, in a way, underscore the colonial experience and how it formed the defining force in the social and interpersonal relations of the people.” (Ayyappa Panicker).

Here Ayyappa Panicker points out in his review that the author succeeds in presenting how colonialism has influenced the social, cultural, and psychological aspects of human beings. But when things are presented in this way with a mixture of emotion and romance, it reaches a point where it glorifies colonialism. The creation of characters such as Kurumbi Amma and Unni Nair, who endorse Kipling's idea of ​​the Whiteman’s burden, and the highlighting of such characters in the novel with a mixture of sentimentality, enriches colonial thought. Since literature is a phenomenon that persists over time, the romanticization of colonialism through literature leads to the return of colonial thought in the form of nostalgia.

Post-colonial literary criticism discusses how colonialism influences colonies culturally and psychologically, despite being geographically and politically decolonized. While such discussions against colonialism are being debated in our cultural sphere, the dangerous fact that the old colonial era is being romanticized and viewed with nostalgia keeps the colonies as colonies. This paper analyzes how literature gives an aesthetic face to colonialism and how colonialism is sanctified over time. M. Mukundan's novel, On the Banks of the Mayyazhi, highlights the effects of colonialism primarily from a colonized point of view. But some of the flaws in the way the characters are portrayed, who are extremely supportive of colonialism, are largely in a way sanctifying colonial ideas. Not only that, but the depiction of Mayyazhi in the background of the novel is also highly romanticized. The myth will not be decolonized as long as this literary work is read. Moreover, in the years since the colonies gained their independence, literature and other forms of entertainment have played a major role in perpetuating the memories of colonial atrocities. The content that has been seen on various streaming platforms in recent times is thus portraying Eastern culture as inferior by praising medieval Western culture. Such presentation methods leave the colonies still colonized.

Mr. Midhulaj. P, Assistant Professor of English, Al Shifa College of Arts and Science, Kizhattoor, Perinthalmanna