POPPIES: the end of the voyage

Watch the interview with Ghosh about Poppies to the right. He partly reads from the book and summarizes it, then answers questions. Then post on the novel with your term paper idea in mind. Find a quote or series of quotes that pertain to your subject and include some commentary on the passages.
for Monday: please read "Auld Lang Syne," by Sandip Roy - in the packet.
for Wednesday: "We're Not Jews," by Hanif Kureishi.

Additional term paper ideas:

1. gossip and public opinion in the south asian novel - in these books, author's depict the voice of public opinion almost as if the "people of the town" were a character in the book. How does gossip function as a social force? Does it encourage traditional behavior? How is this force distinct in the South Asian novel as opposed to something like Jane Austen?
2. innocence and education in the south asian novel - traditional, Romantic ideas (i.e. 19th century European ideas) tend to glamorize innocence and view education or civilization as a sort of corruption. Surely this idea exists in contemporary South Asian diasporic fiction, but different authors treat the notion of innocence differently. How do the major authors vary and what do they have in common? Is there a progression in their use or rejection of Romantic ideas of innocence?
3. women, sex, and rebellion in south asian fiction - although South Asian culture is frequently regarded as relatively prudish around matters of sex, writers in the diaspora often feature surprisingly assertive female characters - as well as traditional and reserved characters. What role do these sexually forward women play in the fiction? Is there adventurousness a cause of distress or trouble for themselves or others? Is it a rebellion against the strictures of family? Is it associated with western liberal ideas or with Eastern religion - which tends to associate sexuality with spirituality?
4. the persistence of suuperstition in contemporary south asian fiction
5. western liberalism (i.e. Enlightenment liberalism) in south asian fiction
6. "the gods must be crazy!" - machines and technology as a cause of conflict in south asian fiction
7. the pseudo-European Indian in south asian fiction
8. the feminized man in south asian fiction
9. eccentricity and the flight from reality in south asian fiction (are characters with strange hobbies and preoccupations reflective of a desire to avoid confronting a difficult reality?)
10. the escape from family in the south asian novel - in many European novels family conflicts are resolved or a character sets out in search of a family. In novels of the South Asian diaspora, the characters often seem to be seeking escape from family, whether by boarding a boat or by denying family connections or traveling far from the family with no hope of ever returning. Do these novels, often misread as celebrating traditional cuture, actually offer a resounding rejection of the South Asian family structure?