Understanding Roman a Clef as a Literary Genre Comparing Tharoor’s Great Indian Novel and Orwell’s Animal Farm

Author

R. Meenu


Abstract

 This research explores how the roman à clef (novel with a key) serves as a powerful tool for political dissidence and historical reclamation in George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945) and Shashi Tharoor’s The Great Indian Novel (1989). By blending allegory and documentary fiction, both authors bypass state censorship, libel, and defamation laws. Orwell uses a strict animal allegory to map the Soviet Union's rise, stripping totalitarianism of its human facade to expose how the rule of law erodes. Tharoor overlays the ancient Mahabharata onto the Indian Independence Movement and the 1975 Emergency, evaluating modern leaders through the moral lens of Dharma. Ultimately, the study argues that the roman à clef provides a protective artistic veil to share cultural secrets and dismantle state propaganda. By utilizing strategic linguistic and structural "keys," these texts preserve collective memory and offer vital institutional critiques during periods of authoritarian decline.


Keywords

Roman a Clef, Political Allegory, Dharma, Totalitarianism Genre Funciton, Legal Dissidence, Animal Farm, The Great Indian Novel



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References


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