An aesthetics of war: The postcolonial ethics of Anil’s Ghost

Abstract

This article reconsiders two aspects of Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost looked at in previous critiques: its political intent, and its representation of violence and the body. This reading, however, will argue that the novel presents an ethical aesthetic through its narrative structure. In particular I will examine its innovative use of narrative space and narrative voice, and how these features allude to unknown silences within the narrative. Two theoretical perspectives will reinforce this: Scarry’s theory of the silence of the body in pain, and Levinas and Derrida’s development of the idea of the silent traces ‘non-present’ in all forms of writing. I aim to demonstrate an ethics of Anil’s Ghost that is not reducible to a political perspective, but is nevertheless motivated by a concern for those individuals caught up in the real-life horror of the Sri Lankan crisis.

Keywords:

• Sri Lanka
• violence
• body
• pain
• ethics
• narrative structure
• voice