NARRATIVE DOUBLE-CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE RE-SCRIPTING OF INDIGENOUS MEMORY IN MAMANG DAIS THE LEGENDS OF PENSAM

Mamang Dai's literary work 'The Legends of Pensam' navigates the space between tradition and modernity in indigenous Adi communities of Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India. Rather than choosing between Western historiography and indigenous orality, the narrator operates in a state of Narrative Double Consciousness. Dai employs three tactics to re-script indigenous memory: language oscillation, narrative double-consciousness, and temporal hybridity. Her work moves between the sincerity of ancestors and the broken reality of a globalized world, differing from postmodern irony and modernist totalization. Through recurring natural imagery, she captures the spiritual connection between land and people, highlighting storytelling's role in preserving culture amid changing times.

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Abstract

Mamang Dai, one of the most prominent voices from Northeast India, intricately weaves the folklore, oral traditions, and landscapes of her native Arunachal Pradesh into her literary works. Her stories and poems explore the convergence of myth, memory, and identity in indigenous communities, offering a unique perspective on the interface between tradition and modernity. Through recurring natural imagery,Dai captures the spiritual connection between the land and the people,often highlighting the role of storytelling in preserving culture amid changing times. This research paper examines Mamang Dais The Legends of Pensam through the lens of Folkloristic Metamodernism. This theoretical framework examines how modern Indigenous literature navigates the "in-between spaces (Pensam) of tradition and modernity. This dynamic can be understood as a link between Western historiography and indigenous orality.The narrator functions in a state of Narrative Double Consciousness, rather than merely selecting one mode of truth over another. Dai uses a structure of feeling that moves between the sincerity of ancestors and the broken reality of a worldwide world. This is different from the postmodern love of sarcasm and the modernist desire for totalization. The research delineates three fundamental tactics Dai employs to re-script Adi Indigenous memory: language oscillation, narrative double-consciousness, and temporal hybridity.