The Everyday of Regime: The Prophet Song and the Episteme of the Universal

Authors

  • Malini Murali Author

Keywords:

war, genocide, exile, universal, regime

Abstract

This paper attempts to critically examine Paul Lynch’s novel Prophet Song as one that furthers Western stereotypes about the Other. Its grand narrative of the universal, the paper argues, is Eurocentric and atavistic. A close reading of the novel reveals how even the best intentions, when not adequately examined, can end up reinforcing age-old stereotypes. 

Author Biography

  • Malini Murali

    Malini Murali is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Devaswom Board College, Thalayolaparambu, affiliated with Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala. She was the 2026 Charles Wallace Fellow at the British Centre for Literary Translation, University of East Anglia, Norwich, where she undertook an English translation of Unnayi Warrier's Nalacharitam Attakatha, the most celebrated composition in the Kathakali repertoire. Her doctoral work, Offering to Ezhutachan: An Annotated Translation of Adhyatmaramayanam Kilipattu, was awarded an Excellent Grade by the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, and is scheduled for publication by Rupa in 2026. Her talks on language, literature, and culture are periodically broadcast on All India Radio. Her research interests include critical humanities, literary and cultural studies, and South Asian studies. She is actively engaged in the study and translation of both pre-modern and contemporary Malayalam compositions.

Downloads

Published

2026-06-15

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2026): Issue 6.1

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 ETKİ: Journal of Literature, Theatre and Culture Studies

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

The Everyday of Regime: The Prophet Song and the Episteme of the Universal. (2026). ETKİ: Journal of Literature, Theatre and Culture Studies, 6(1), 24-35. https://etkijournal.com/etki/article/view/42