Abstract:

            Sunil Gangopadhyay’s children’s adventure narrative Sobuj Dwiper Raja recreates the castaway motif of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe within a postcolonial framework, locating it in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of the Indian subcontinent. The chronological and temporal shift of Gangopadhyay’s novel alters the perspective of this Robinsonade, transforming it into a critique of colonial and neo-colonial ideologies. Unlike Crusoe who recreates the island in exact imitation of the civilized West, Sobuj Dwiper Raja celebrates an untouched, utopian space inhabited by the Jarwans – an indigenous community of people uncontaminated by colonialism or modernity. Kakababu respects the ways and values of the Jarwans and Gunada Talukdar, an Indian freedom fighter embraces their culture and fights till the end to preserve their moral and social superiority. The Jarwan’s mysterious meteorite fire symbolizes the much coveted wealth of the Orient that attracts exploitation by the West. The hybridized character of Dasgupta with his colonial biases stands for the lingering effects of imperialism. Sobuj Dwiper Raja thus emerges as a powerful counter-narrative to Robinson Crusoe, offering a profound critique of western modernity and colonialism and proposing return to nature as a remedy for societal decay.