Historiographic Metafiction and Subaltern Polyphony in Amitav Ghosh’s Flood of Fire

Abstract

reconfigures the First Opium War through a self-reflexive blending of history and fiction. Functioning as historiographic metafiction, the novel combines archival realism with narrative plurality to question the authority of imperial historiography. Through polyphonic narration, fragmented chronology, and multilingual discourse, Ghosh foregrounds subaltern perspectives and destabilizes Eurocentric constructions of empire. The representation of sepoys, traders, sailors, and marginalized women shifts historical focus from colonial administrators to those silenced within official archives. Drawing on postcolonial and narratological frameworks, the text reveals history as a discursive construct shaped by power and ideology. Its transnational scope situates colonial modernity within global networks of trade, migration, and war, challenging monologic narratives of progress and civilization. By merging documentary precision with imaginative reconstruction, Flood of Fire transforms the historical novel into a critical space for interrogating memory, representation, and epistemic authority.