Re-writing the Mizo: Continuing the Narrative

Abstract

This paper attempts to establish that the central aspect of re-writing must be a continuous process in order to achieve a sustained and stable sense of self and identity. It shall argue that various factors continue to influence thought formation in terms of the construction of Mizo identity, and it shall situate the same while locating itself within select works of C.Lalnunchanga (born 1970), a Mizo writer of repute. Although the historical Mizo has been ‘recovered’ and ‘re-written’ into the records of literary history, reclaiming the centre through the historical is no longer sufficient to establish identity in a world which is still determined to a certain extent by colonial hangover as also by the hegemonic influences of globalization and neocolonialism. This paper will propose that maintaining the hold on the center is crucial to resistance against this existing hegemony and, that this can be achieved only when the rewriting continues, persistently centering the Mizo through the changes that time brings with it.