The dam under construction is the scene of intense friction. © Devansh Sharma
Published on 23.07.2022
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
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Kamala Markandaya » The Great Dam is an immersion in the Indian jungle, where a huge construction site crystallizes the tensions between locals and former settlers. The novel of a pioneer ecologist.
A true indictment of the great works that followed India’s independence and their disastrous consequences, the sixth novel by journalist and novelist Kamala Markandaya (1924-2004) reveals a social and ecological awareness that was rare at the time. Le Grand Barrage, published in 1969 then retranslated into French this spring, questions Indo-British relations without taboo, digs deep into the human soul and overflows with impressive technical knowledge.
The author, from the Brahmin elite, who emigrated to London in 1948, opposes in this novel the materialism of the former colonist to the spirituality of the indigenous population, such as the tribe displaced for the needs of the dam. It also shows, through various characters, the ambiguity of Indian engineers on the
