Human beings have been greatly observed as the principal narrators of nature for centuries. As a result, the role of matter has almost always been widely ignored as a potential storyteller. Where man has always been considered the narrator of universal phenomena, matter’s capacity for narration and semiotic interconnections has always been disregarded. However, when authors provide matter the platform to participate actively in their plots, they subvert these notions of matter’s stillness. We argue that by integrating the town of Malgudi into his stories as a foundational plot device, R. K. Narayan foregrounds the narrative agency of Malgudi, and this semiotic power establishes Malgudi as a hyperobject. In his stories, the town of Malguddi is not only taken as the setting, but it acts as an active participant within the stories. Its entire presence can be observed by closely examining the streets, buildings, and characters that exist within the setting. For our support, we have chosen two main concepts: Serenella Iovino and Serpil Oppermann’s concept of “Storied Matter” and Timothy Morton’s conceptualization of “Hyperobjects. ” We utilize these concepts to establish the town of Malgudi as a storied hyperobject, and by doing so we highlight the amount of significance matter has in shaping narratives.
Maryyam,S and Waqar,H . (2024). “Malgudi Days”: R.K. Narayan’s Erudite Representation of Storied Matter. Journal of English Literature and Cultural Studies, 5(4), 39-46. doi: 10.26655/JELCS.2024.04.05
MLA
Maryyam,S , and Waqar,H . "“Malgudi Days”: R.K. Narayan’s Erudite Representation of Storied Matter", Journal of English Literature and Cultural Studies, 5, 4, 2024, 39-46. doi: 10.26655/JELCS.2024.04.05
HARVARD
Maryyam S, Waqar H. (2024). '“Malgudi Days”: R.K. Narayan’s Erudite Representation of Storied Matter', Journal of English Literature and Cultural Studies, 5(4), pp. 39-46. doi: 10.26655/JELCS.2024.04.05
CHICAGO
S Maryyam and H Waqar, "“Malgudi Days”: R.K. Narayan’s Erudite Representation of Storied Matter," Journal of English Literature and Cultural Studies, 5 4 (2024): 39-46, doi: 10.26655/JELCS.2024.04.05
VANCOUVER
Maryyam S, Waqar H. “Malgudi Days”: R.K. Narayan’s Erudite Representation of Storied Matter. JELCS. 2024;5(4):39-46. doi: 10.26655/JELCS.2024.04.05