• HIMAKSHI KASHYAP

Novelistic narratives differ in their style, form and techniques from the other literary genres. The narrative perspectives, narrative voices, portrayal of characters, use of language according to differences among the characters, layering of the storyline etc. provide a veritable ground to understand and analyze novel as a distinct genre. Regarding the narrative voice and perspective, one may figure out two distinct styles in one of which the author acts as the omnipotent narrator representing the consciousnesses of his characters and in the other, the narrator retracts from being the authoritative dictator and presenter of the voices and consciousnesses of his characters; thus providing a ground for the flawless figuration of the characters as distinct individuals with their unmerging voices from one another. The second type of narrative style features in the polyphonic novels; a type of novelistic discourse coined and identified by one of the significant critical thinkers of Russia, Mikhail Bakhtin in his principle of dialogism and especially, in his study of the novels of Dostoevsky. Polyphonic novels present multiple voices of characters along with the narrator which are unmerged to one another and uttered distinctly from one another; thus creates a symphony of the voices of the characters engaged in an interaction in the novelistic space. Novels constitute a healthy body of works in Assamese literature that started with the first attempt of Padmanath Gohain Baruah in 1890 when he wrote Bhanumati. With the course of the growth of this genre, many innovations in style, and narrative, thematic concerns and also in language has taken place among which this paper attempts to select two modern age novels of Assamese literature; one by Arupa Patangiya Kalita entitled Fenalee and the other by Nandita Devi entitled Bangal Bahu Dur so as to examine how this two novels have employed polyphony in their narratives; thus trying to focus how has Assamese novel transcended its regional barrier and evolved to be universal per se

Polyphony, Assamese Novel, Narrative style, Dialogism

"POLYPHONY IN ASSAMESE FICTION: A STUDY OF SELECTED ASSAMESE NOVELS", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.10, Issue 12, page no.h448-h453, December-2023, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2312756.pdf

"POLYPHONY IN ASSAMESE FICTION: A STUDY OF SELECTED ASSAMESE NOVELS", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.10, Issue 12, page no. pph448-h453, December-2023, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2312756.pdf