ItemArticle

Horror and the body: Corporeal transformations and postcolonial motifs in Satyajit Rays Neel Atonko and Khagam

Title
Horror and the body: Corporeal transformations and postcolonial motifs in Satyajit Rays Neel Atonko and Khagam
Creator
Bhattacharya, Anmana; Suresh, Arya
Description
The genre of postcolonial Gothic questions imperial power structures and exposes the anxiety and violence embedded in colonization. It combines imperial Gothic tropes with regional narratives. This article analyses two short stories by Satyajit Ray, Neel Atonko (The Indigo Terror) and Khagam, examining how Bengali horror fiction uses and subverts Gothic tropes through corporeal transformation. It discusses the babu/bhadralok (westernized Indian men) culture from a postcolonial perspective, and argues that the supernatural transformations depicted in the stories indicate the instability of colonial identity. The human body becomes the primary site through which colonial oppression and resistance are portrayed. Using Homi Bhabhas concept of mimicry, Julia Kristevas discussion of the abject, and Xavier Aldana Reyess analysis of body gothic, this article examines how the stories critique the violence of colonial ideology through postcolonial motifs that situate the white man in a powerless position, thereby challenging established power structures of imperial Gothic. 2026 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Source
Journal of Postcolonial Writing;
Date
01-01-2026
Publisher
Routledge
Subject
Bengali horror; bodily transformation; imperialism; postcolonial Gothic; primitive Other; Satyajit Ray
Coverage
Bhattacharya A., English and Cultural Studies, Christ University, Bengaluru, India; Suresh A., English and Cultural Studies, Christ University, Bengaluru, India
Rights
Restricted Access; Hardcopy may be available in the library
Relation
ISSN: 17449855;
Format
online
Language
English
Type
Article

Citation

Bhattacharya, Anmana; Suresh, Arya, “Horror and the body: Corporeal transformations and postcolonial motifs in Satyajit Rays Neel Atonko and Khagam,” CHRIST (Deemed To Be University) Institutional Repository, accessed June 18, 2026, https://archives.christuniversity.in/items/show/22744.

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