ABSTRACT
This chapter uses a cognitive linguistic approach to discussing the stylistic representation of the sense(s) in new Indian English fictional texts, taking into account how language records the intertwining between the mind and the body. In particular, it offers an embodied reading of Tabish Khair’s novella Night of Happiness (2018) and Megha Majumdar’s A Burning (2020), two narrative texts that deal in different ways and forms with the manifestations of identity, the weight of trauma, and the sense of morality. The main aim of this chapter is to examine how the stylistic rendition of the senses (such as the gustatory, olfactory, and auditory experiences) operate in the storytelling at pragmatic, metaphorical, and cultural levels with the aim of producing emotional involvement and generating challenging ethical questions in the reader.
