A Postcolonial Reading of the Alternative Scientific Discourse of Colonial India in Satyajit Ray's Shonku Stories
Abstract:
The story ‘The Unicorn expedition’ by Satyajit Ray, with Professor
Trilokeshwar Shonku as the protagonist, presents an alternative scientific
discourse where scientific explanations and mythic mysteries meet half
way. The porosity is visible not only in Shonku’s pursuits but also in the
nature of Dung-lung-do and the members undertaking the expedition.Even
though Shonku is a strong advocate of science, mythic mysteries are not
completely rejected but rather considered as a limitation of the present
scientific discourse. The paper will analyse whether the scientific discourse
of Shonku resembles ancient scientific discourse of India or its
methodology in so far as it is received by the West. My paper intends to
examine how Ray uses the medium of science fiction to initiate a dialogue
with the scientific discourse of the recent colonial past. I argue that he
writes back, using the tool of fiction. The paper will use other Shonku
stories in order to substantiate the argument.
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