R.K. Narayan : Phenomenology and Consciousness

The present endeavour is a synthesis of two different choices: the theoretical assumption of Phenomenological Criticism and R.K. Narayan’s novels which are replete with the concepts of Phenomenology. Phenomenology, as a philosophy, has a very wide spectrum but the present work confines its range only to the literary domain of the philosophy commonly represented by Geneva Critics or Critics of Consciousness with the overtones of philosophers like Husserl, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty. This effort examines ten out of total fifteen novels penned by R.K. Narayan. Swami and Friends (1935), The Bachelor of Arts (1937), The Dark Room (1938), The English Teacher (1945), The Financial Expert (1952), Waiting for the Mahatma (1955), The Guide (1958), The Man-Eater of Malgudi (1962), and The Painter of Signs (1978) are touched upon in this book.