Published Paper Details:

This paper examines the role of jocularity and absurdity in the works of Sukumar Ray, with a particular focus on the collection of his limerick verse, Abol Tabol, as a technique to British colonialism and its footprint on the socio-political scenery of colonial India. By using postcolonial theorists such as Homi K.Bhaba and Spivak, this research explores Ray's use of hybridity and the combining of the Western category with native literary tradition as a tool for challenging the colonial power dynamics. Ray's selection of nonsense as a mode of expression for social remark is scrutinized in terms of its capacity to delicately comment on present-day social order while also illuminating the brutal dominative power of the British colonizers and the ill-treatment of colonized peoples. Through a detailed study of Ray's use of language, nonsensical words, puns, and wordplay, Abol Tabol serves as a powerful tool for social commentary. Ray uses a metasense approach, which develops the parody into sincere literature, putting light on the exploitative nature of British rule and the urgency for decolonization. The analysis also focuses on Ray's use of satire to condemn the Bengali Babu of the time and their blind devotion to their British masters.