The Dialectics of Otherness: A Critical Analysis of the Title "Another Community" by

R.K. Narayan
Introduction
The title "Another Community" stands as one of R.K. Narayan's most semantically loaded
and politically charged designations, embodying within its deceptively simple construction a
profound meditation on communal identity, otherness, and the violence that emerges from
artificial social demarcations. Published in 1956, merely nine years after India's partition and
the accompanying communal carnage, the title functions as both a linguistic artifact of post-
colonial anxiety and a deliberate artistic strategy to universalize the particularity of
communal violence. The two-word construction operates through what literary theorist Homi
Bhabha might term "ambivalent discourse," simultaneously acknowledging difference while
questioning the very foundations upon which such differences are constructed. Narayan's
choice of the indefinite article "another" rather than a definite designation immediately
establishes a sense of arbitrary otherness, suggesting that the community in question exists
primarily in relation to an unnamed, yet implicitly normative, original community.
The Semantics of Anonymity and Universal Particularity
The deliberate anonymity embedded within the title reflects Narayan's conscious artistic
decision to avoid what he explicitly states in the story's opening: "I am not going to mention
caste or community in this story." This authorial declaration, which functions as both
narrative strategy and political statement, transforms the title into a site of productive
ambiguity. The word "another" operates through what Jacques Derrida would recognize as
différance—the simultaneous deferral and differentiation of meaning. By refusing to specify
which community constitutes the "other," Narayan creates what postcolonial critic Ranajit
Guha might term a "subaltern universal," where the unnamed community becomes
representative of all marginalized groups while retaining its specificity as a particular victim
of communal violence.
The anonymity serves multiple literary functions simultaneously. First, it creates what
Wolfgang Iser would identify as "gaps" in the text that require active reader participation to
construct meaning. Second, it establishes what René Girard theorizes as the "scapegoat
mechanism," wherein the victim becomes interchangeable precisely because their individual
identity matters less than their symbolic function within the violent structure. The title thus
prefigures the story's central irony: that communal identity, seemingly so essential to the
perpetrators of violence, ultimately proves meaningless in the face of arbitrary brutality.
Postcolonial Implications and the Politics of Naming
Within the broader context of postcolonial literature, Narayan's title engages with what
Gayatri Spivak identifies as the problem of "speaking for" the subaltern. The phrase "another
community" immediately establishes a hierarchical relationship between communities,
implying the existence of a primary, normative community against which this "other" is
defined. However, Narayan's strategic refusal to specify which community occupies which
position disrupts this hierarchy, creating what Homi Bhabha terms "mimetic excess"—a
repetition that reveals the arbitrary nature of colonial and communal categories.
The title's engagement with otherness resonates strongly with Edward Said's theorization of
Orientalism, though Narayan's focus remains primarily on internal Indian communal
divisions rather than East-West binaries. Nevertheless, the mechanism of othering operates
similarly: the "another community" exists primarily as a construction of difference, defined
not by its intrinsic characteristics but by its relationship to an implicitly normative
community. This relationship reflects what postcolonial theorist Bill Ashcroft identifies as the
"rhetoric of difference" that underlies both colonial and communal violence.
Narrative Strategy and the Everyman Archetype
The universalizing impulse evident in the title extends to Narayan's characterization strategy
throughout the story. By not providing any details about the man's identity or the
communities involved, the narrator suggests that such details are unimportant and allows
readers to identify with the man as an "Everyman" figure. This narrative technique transforms
the title from a specific designation into a universal category. The "another community"
becomes not merely one particular group but any group that finds itself designated as "other"
within structures of communal violence.
This strategy aligns with what literary critic Malcolm Bradbury identifies as Narayan's
characteristic "compassionate irony," wherein specific cultural details are both celebrated and
transcended in service of universal human understanding. The title "Another Community"
exemplifies this approach: it acknowledges the reality of communal difference while
simultaneously questioning the significance of such differences in the face of shared human
vulnerability.
Temporal Dimensions and Historical Context
The historical moment of the story's publication—1956—positions the title within the
immediate aftermath of Partition, when communal identity had become literally a matter of
life and death for millions of Indians. The title's temporal implications are crucial: "another"
suggests not just difference but sequence, implying that communities are not naturally
occurring entities but historically constructed categories that emerge in relation to specific
moments of conflict and definition.
Narayan's contemporary, Khushwant Singh, explored similar themes in "Train to Pakistan"
(1956), but where Singh's title immediately evokes the geographic and political realities of
Partition, Narayan's title operates through abstraction and universalization. The comparison
reveals Narayan's particular genius: while Singh's title grounds his narrative in specific
historical circumstances, "Another Community" achieves its power through deliberate
dehistoricization, making the story applicable to any context where communities construct
themselves through violent exclusion of others.
Linguistic Structure and Grammatical Implications
The grammatical structure of the title deserves careful attention. "Another" functions as both
adjective and determiner, modifying "community" while simultaneously quantifying it. This
dual function creates semantic instability: "another" suggests both "different" and
"additional," implying that communities are both qualitatively distinct and quantitatively
multiple. The indefinite article's absence before "community" (as opposed to "Another
Community" becoming "Another The Community") universalizes the concept while
maintaining its specificity.
The title's two-word construction follows what linguist Roman Jakobson identifies as the
"metonymic axis" of language—the relationship of contiguity rather than similarity. "Another
Community" stands in contiguous relationship to the unnamed primary community, defined
not by its intrinsic characteristics but by its position within a relational structure. This
grammatical relationship mirrors the story's thematic concern with the relational nature of
communal identity.
Ironic Reversals and the Subversion of Expectation
The title's ultimate irony lies in its reversal of expectation. What begins as a designation of
otherness ultimately reveals the arbitrary nature of all communal categories. The protagonist's
savage murder becomes the excuse for violence in the hands of local politicians,
demonstrating how the designation "another community" functions not as description but as
justification for violence. The title thus operates through what literary theorist Paul de Man
would recognize as "ironic reversal," where the apparent meaning inverts to reveal its
opposite.
This ironic structure aligns with Narayan's broader artistic project, which consistently reveals
the comedy and tragedy inherent in human attempts to create meaning through artificial
social categories. The title "Another Community" participates in what critic William Walsh
identifies as Narayan's "comic vision," wherein serious subjects are treated with gentle irony
that reveals both their absurdity and their tragic consequences.
Comparative Literary Context
Within Narayan's broader oeuvre, "Another Community" represents a departure from his
typical Malgudi settings, yet the title's concerns resonate throughout his work. In "The
Vendor of Sweets" (1967), Narayan explores generational rather than communal otherness,
while "The Painter of Signs" (1976) examines the otherness of modernization. The title
"Another Community" thus represents not an isolated experiment but a concentrated
exploration of otherness that permeates Narayan's entire literary project.
Comparisons with other Indian writers of the period reveal the title's particular significance.
Where Mulk Raj Anand's titles often specify caste or class ("Untouchable," "Coolie"), and
Raja Rao's titles invoke philosophical or spiritual concepts ("Kanthapura," "The Serpent and
the Rope"), Narayan's "Another Community" occupies a middle ground that acknowledges
social divisions while refusing to reify them through specific designation.
Critical Reception and Scholarly Interpretations
Notwithstanding its fictional character and its year of publication, 1956, "Another
Community" is a modern critique of communal violence, as noted by recent scholarship.
Critics have recognized the title's function as what literary theorist René Girard would term a
"sacrificial crisis," wherein the breakdown of cultural categories leads to violence that can
only be resolved through scapegoating. K. Parija describes the story as a "moving story of a
martyr at the blood altar of communal blood-bath" and "one of the rare stories of Narayan
with a topical theme", highlighting how the title signals Narayan's departure from his
typically non-political stance.
The critical recognition of the story as addressing "topical" themes reveals the title's success
in universalizing particular historical circumstances. By designating the victim's group as
merely "another community," Narayan creates what postcolonial critic Gayatri Spivak might
recognize as "strategic essentialism"—temporarily accepting communal categories in order to
critique the violence they enable.
Conclusion
The title "Another Community" functions as a masterpiece of linguistic compression,
containing within its two words the entire problematic of communal identity in postcolonial
India. Through strategic anonymity, grammatical ambiguity, and ironic reversal, Narayan
creates a title that simultaneously acknowledges and critiques the logic of communal
difference. The title's power lies not in its specificity but in its capacity to universalize the
particular experience of communal violence while maintaining sensitivity to its historical
context.
The designation "another" ultimately reveals itself as both accurate and inadequate: accurate
in recognizing the reality of communal difference, inadequate in suggesting that such
differences justify violence. The title thus participates in what we might call Narayan's "ethics
of recognition"—acknowledging social divisions while maintaining fundamental human
solidarity. In its deceptive simplicity, "Another Community" achieves what the greatest
literary titles accomplish: it contains the entire story within itself while remaining
inexhaustible in its capacity to generate meaning. The title stands as testament to Narayan's
ability to transform the particular circumstances of Indian communal conflict into a universal
meditation on otherness, violence, and the tragic consequences of constructing identity
through exclusion.