Kadambari Devarajan (Posts about posts)http://kadambarid.in/categories/cat_posts.atom2022-09-06T18:47:13ZKadambari DevarajanNikolaCharting the Cranium Underneath the Colorhttp://kadambarid.in/posts/racists.html2005-05-10T16:15:45+05:302005-05-10T16:15:45+05:30Kadambari Devarajan<section id="charting-the-cranium-underneath-the-color">
<h2>Charting the Cranium Underneath the Color</h2>
<p>A review of:</p>
<p>RACISTS by Kunal Basu;
Penguin Books, New Delhi, 2006;
Pages 214, Rs.250</p>
<p><em>Racists</em> by Kunal Basu, is a poignant tale of the scientific racism that was rampant in nineteenth century Europe. The title, simple and suggestive, reeks of what is to come, but falls short in that it is too direct while one begins to anticipate allegorical nibbles and analogies. Considering that racism is an area that is widely discussed but rarely explored with quality literary works even harder to find, it is considered politically taboo thereby stifling true scientific discourse and hence, literary appreciation is due. But think fiction with a spine of racism, and the incomparable <a class="reference external" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Kill_a_Mockingbird">To Kill a Mockingbird</a> will still race all others to the top, although it is a trifle unfair to compare these two with their totally different narratives. The similarities end with the boy-girl duo on which the narratives are built with the sole similarity in style being the <em>bildungsroman</em> approach of both, wherein the protagonists evolve physically and mentally with the flow of the story.</p>
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