Fictionalizing Realities Against the Supremacist Global Order: Roy and Adiga’s Literary Counter to Neo-Imperialism

Abstract

In an era when old empires resurface under new guises, neo-imperialism shapes global geopolitics through overt aggression, economic control, and cultural erasure. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western debates over strategic territories like Greenland, and Canada’s resource disputes with Indigenous communities reveal that imperial ambitions still exist, cloaked in modern rhetoric. Operating through economic dependency, digital dominance, and ecological exploitation, today’s empires marginalize subaltern voices while perpetuating systemic inequities. Against this scenario, contemporary Indian novels emerge as potent forms of resistance. Authors like Arundhati Roy and Aravind Adiga reveal the human cost of global capitalism using stories of migration, urban relocation, caste persecution, and neoliberal disillusionment. Roy’s poetic activism and Adiga’s keen sarcasm formulate a counter-narrative that questions the ideological foundations of neo-imperialism. Their literature questions the global system while also envisioning multiple, equitable futures. In their hands, the narrative transforms into a courageous indirect political act.