Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Amitav Ghosh’s Fiction

Amitav Ghosh occupies a distinctive position in Indian English literature as a writer whose works consistently interrogate the cultural, historical, and political forces that shape transnational identities. His novels foreground cross-cultural encounters arising from colonialism, migration, trade, and displacement, revealing culture not as a fixed or homogeneous entity but as a dynamic process of exchange, negotiation, and transformation. This research article examines the cross-cultural dimensions of Ghosh’s major novels—The Shadow Lines, Sea of Poppies, and The Glass Palace—to demonstrate how his narrative strategies challenge rigid national boundaries and essentialist notions of identity. The study argues that Ghosh’s fiction presents culture as fluid and relational, shaped by movement across geographical, linguistic, and political borders. Through interconnected narratives, multilingual dialogues, and historically grounded storytelling, Ghosh exposes the artificiality of colonial borders and the lasting impact of imperial histories on personal and collective memory. His characters frequently inhabit liminal spaces—between nations, languages, and traditions—embodying hybrid identities that resist singular definitions of belonging. By examining themes such as displacement, migration, cultural hybridity, and the global circulation of people and commodities, this article situates Ghosh within a broader postcolonial and transnational literary framework. Particular attention is paid to how Ghosh reimagines history “from below,” privileging marginal voices such as migrants, sailors, indentured labourers, and displaced communities. The article concludes that Ghosh’s cross-cultural vision offers a powerful critique of nationalism and cultural exclusivity, proposing instead an ethics of interconnectedness that acknowledges shared histories across borders. His fiction thus emerges as a significant literary intervention that redefines cultural identity in an increasingly globalised yet fragmented world.