Zami: A New Spelling against Racism
Zami: A New Spelling against Racism

Author(s): Pulkita Anand
Subject(s): British Literature
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Zami; Spelling; Racism; William Golding; famous novel;
Summary/Abstract: William Golding has mentioned in his famous novel, The Lord of the Flies that man is inherently evil, evil is in all of us. It is true and relevant in contemporary times too. The evil aspect of a human is due to his/ her violent nature. This violence is evident to every being that human beings encounter and destroy through his /her evil design. The current climate crisis is a testimony of man’s greed and deed. Violence is a recurring theme in literature. It is an integral part of our socio-political, religious and cultural life. There is more ‘subtle’ kind of violence that manifests itself in the everyday is what Gyanendra Pandey calls ‘routine violence’, that is, “a violence written into the making and continuation of contemporary political arrangements, and into productions of majorities and minorities” (Pandey, 2006, p. 1). He continues how we must recognize violence not only in its most spectacular, explosive, visible moments, but also in its most disguised forms -- in our day-to-day behaviour, the way we construct and respond to neighbours as well as strangers, in the books and magazines we read, the films we see, and the conversation and silences in which we participate. (Pandey, 2006, p. 8). Ron Eyerman gives a good definition of “cultural trauma” in his book Cultural Trauma: Slavery and the Formation of African American Identity. As opposed to psychological or physical trauma, which involves a wound and the experience of great emotional anguish by an individual, cultural trauma refers to a dramatic loss of identity and meaning, a tear in the social fabric, affecting a group of people that has achieved some degree of cohesion. (2001, p. 2).

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