The White Tiger as a Memory Narrative

Abstract

This paper tries to examine Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger as a memory narrative drawing on Paul Ricoeur’s theory of mimesis and Astrid Erll’s rhetoric of collective memory. It argues that literature serves as a medium for reconstructing cultural memory and identity, revealing alternative perspectives often _excluded from dominant narratives. The White Tiger has already been analysed from various perspectives, including subaltern studies, cultural studies, and postcolonial studies. What this paper tries to delineate is to study the very text as the fiction of memory: memory is not only a subjective phenomenon, it depends upon the social framework, as Maurice Halbwachs points out in his theory of mémoire collective, that individual or collective memory relies upon the social framework for both formation and recollection of memory. The protagonist's journey from the backwards northern regions of India, or, in his words, darkness, and moral slavary to success or light and freedom illustrates the selective process of memory, where personal and collective histories intertwine. Through the lens of Paul Ricoeur’s mimesis theory—encompassing prefiguration, configuration, and refiguration—this article attempts to highlight how the protagonist's recollections challenge the sanitized portrayal of contemporary India. By employing the antagonistic mode of memory propagated by Astrid Erll, the narrative critiques socio-political realities, exposing the complexities of identity formation within a stratified society. Ultimately, this paper aims to present that The White Tiger serves as a successful alternative narrative, retrieving censored memories and identities, and ultimately offering a voice to the marginalised, while questioning the hegemonic narratives that shape collective understanding.