DAILY DOSE #9: 10 MCQs on South Asian Literature for UGC NET English

Here are 10 MCQs on South Asian Literature for UGC NET English.

1. Which novel by Salman Rushdie marked a turning point in South Asian postcolonial literature?

a) Shame

b) The Satanic Verses

c) Midnight's Children

d) Grimus

Answer: c) Midnight's Children

Explanation: The novel, which won the Booker Prize, blends magic realism with Indian history and is a landmark in postcolonial fiction.

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2. Who is the author of Ice-Candy-Man, a Partition novel set in Lahore?

a) Kamila Shamsie

b) Bapsi Sidhwa

c) Jhumpa Lahiri

d) Anita Desai

Answer: b) Bapsi Sidhwa

Explanation: The novel, narrated by a child, explores the trauma of Partition from the perspective of the Parsi community.

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3. Which Sri Lankan author wrote Reef, a novel shortlisted for the Booker Prize?

a) Michael Ondaatje

b) Romesh Gunesekera

c) Shyam Selvadurai

d) Jean Arasanayagam

Answer: b) Romesh Gunesekera

Explanation: Reef is a coming-of-age tale that also critiques political unrest in Sri Lanka.

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4. In which work does Jhumpa Lahiri explore diasporic identity and generational conflict?

a) The Namesake

b) Interpreter of Maladies

c) The Lowland

d) Unaccustomed Earth

Answer: a) The Namesake

Explanation: The novel follows an Indian-American protagonist navigating cultural duality and personal identity.

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5. Which Bangladeshi writer authored the novel A Golden Age, set during the 1971 Liberation War?

a) Monica Ali

b) Tahmima Anam

c) Mahmud Rahman

d) K. Anis Ahmed

Answer: b) Tahmima Anam

Explanation: A Golden Age captures the human cost of war through the story of a widow and her children.

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6. Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness focuses on which key South Asian issue?

a) Indo-Pak border disputes

b) Tribal displacement

c) Gender and social marginalization

d) Urban poverty

Answer: c) Gender and social marginalization

Explanation: The novel gives voice to transgender people, Dalits, and Kashmiris within a fragmented nation.

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7. Which Pakistani writer’s novel Moth Smoke explores class disparity and corruption in Lahore?

a) Mohsin Hamid

b) Daniyal Mueenuddin

c) Nadeem Aslam

d) Hanif Kureishi

Answer: a) Mohsin Hamid

Explanation: Moth Smoke critiques the elitism and moral decay of Pakistan’s upper class.

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8. What is the central theme of Shyam Selvadurai’s novel Funny Boy?

a) Religious identity

b) Gender and sexual identity

c) Political violence

d) Cultural assimilation

Answer: b) Gender and sexual identity

Explanation: The novel explores a young Tamil boy’s awakening to his homosexuality amid Sri Lanka’s ethnic tensions.

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9. Which language is the novel Six Acres and a Third originally written in before its English translation?

a) Hindi

b) Urdu

c) Bengali

d) Odia

Answer: d) Odia

Explanation: Fakir Mohan Senapati’s novel critiques colonial land systems and was later translated into English.

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10. Which genre best describes Kamila Shamsie’s Home Fire, inspired by Sophocles’ Antigone?

a) Historical romance

b) Postmodern satire

c) Political thriller

d) Epic fantasy

Answer: c) Political thriller

Explanation: The novel deals with themes of radicalization, family, and state surveillance in a contemporary South Asian context.

VISIT : LITERARY SPHERE

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South Asian Literature

Postcolonial Literature

Partition Fiction

Diaspora and Identity

UGC NET English Preparation

South Asian Fiction in English

Gender and Identity in South Asian Writing

Partition and Postcolonial Narratives

Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi Writers

Diasporic South Asian Voices

Modern Pakistani Literature

UGC NET English Literature MCQs

Booker Prize and South Asian Authors

Comparative South Asian Literatures

South Asian Political and Social Themes

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