Rewriting the Mythic: Cultural Hybridity and Speculative Reimagination in Samit Basu’s The GameWorld Trilogy

Samit Basu's novel The GameWorld Trilogy presents a vibrant reworking of Indian myth through the imaginative framework of speculative fiction. This paper explores how Basu reconstructs mythic themes from Indian epics and folklore while blending them with the conventions of fantasy and modern storytelling. Building on Homi Bhabha's theory of cultural hybridity and insights from fantasy studies, the research shows how Basu uses humor, parody, and intertextuality to reshape inherited narratives for a global readership. His writing transforms myth into a living, dynamic force that speaks to contemporary realities of identity, colonial history, and cultural change. The study argues that The GameWorld Trilogy is not only a playful work of fantasy but also an intellectual project that redefines myth and imagination in twenty-first-century Indian English literature.