Writing Contemporary Nepali Self in Sagar’s Karnali Blues and Upadhyay’s Buddha’s Orphans

Writing Contemporary Nepali Self in Sagar’s Karnali Blues and Upadhyay’s Buddha’s Orphans
Komal Prasad Phuyal and Pratikshya KC

Abstract

Works of fiction also provoke serious reflection on contemporary society. This study analyses Buddhi Sagar’s Karnali Blues (2010) and Samrat Upadhyay’s Buddha’s Orphans (2010) to examine the contemporary self they present. Both fiction derive their characters and the circumstances from Nepali society after 1990. We have taken 1990 as the point of departure in Nepali history, as the political changes of the 1990s put an end to the partyless Panchayat system, opening society to liberal ideas. However, the social contradiction also led to a new type of armed conflict, which began in 1997 and ended in 2005. The works of fiction set in this period depict the lives and struggles of people in Karnali, the Terai, and the Kathmandu Valley. We have applied new historicism as a critical lens to examine how both fiction engages with the contemporary self.