A Study of Sounds in Animal’s People

Abstract

Indra Sinha, a British-Indian writer, based his novel Animal’s People on the 1984 Bhopal gas leak disaster. Focusing on the experiences and observations of “Animal”, a disaster survivor, in the fictional “Khaufpur” (meaning “city of hell”), the novel is a classic work of contemporary postcolonial trauma literature. Told through tape-recorded oral narration, the novel takes sound as the main narrative device running through the whole text, forming its unique narrative feature. This paper will analyze the sound in the novel from two perspectives: first, exploring how the narrative medium of tape recording helps ethnic minorities break free from the representation and coercion of Western humanitarians and official forces, and regain the narrative power of their own stories; second, attempting to interpret the ritual chants of Muharram and the songs of Somraj, a master of Indian local music, to explore the mixed characteristics of local multiculturalism they carry and the profound significance of music in crossing civilizational barriers and resolving conflicts. The sound narrative in the novel is not a mere formal innovation, but a way of resistance for disaster survivors to break the predicament of being silenced by power—it subverts the spectacular consumption and scrutiny of the suffering of the Third World by the West in the postcolonial context, and provides a unique narrative path for marginalized groups to speak out.