Focusing on literature, film and the broadcast media, these essays are
drawn from a conference at the University of Barcelona in Spain to
celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of India's independence. The essays
look both backwards and forwards in time, both to developments within
India and to the growth of Indian communities settled throughout the
world.
In particular, the volume explores the position of women, both in
literary and filmic portrayals, and through the emergence of important
women's voices in Indian writing.
In the first section, dealing with writing both in English and Indian
languages, Murari Prasad traces the evolution of feminist ideas; Mary
Condé explores anglophone women's writing with particular reference to
Arundhati Roy and to expatriate writers in North America such as Bharati
Mukerjee; and Elizabeth Russell discusses issues of identity in Indian
women's writing in relationship to theories of gender and ethnicity.
In the second section, which focuses on the defining voices of Indian
nationalism, C.D. Narasimhaiah pays homage to the founding fathers of
Indian writing, Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao. Syd Harrex analyses the
work of R.K. Narayan and Savita Goel discusses the contemporary images
of Rohinton Mistry.
The third section deals with Indian writing in the diaspora. Kathleen
Firth looks at the twice-displaced writer M.G. Vassanji; Rajana Ash
focuses on the work of Indian women writers currently working in
Britain; and Felicity Hand looks at the position of the Asian community
in Britain through the work of such writers as Hanif Kureishi.
The final section examines the development of Indian film and broadcast
media. Somdatta Mandal deals with Bengali nationalism and print media;
Daya Thusu surveys the evolution of Indian media into the late-nineties
and Sara Martin compares Western images of India in film with India's
own film industry.
"...this book is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to introduce
themselves to Indian literature from 1947 to the present day from the
Indian diaspora, with slighter chapters on film and the media. This book
contextualises key figures of Indian literature, both novelist and
poets, within the political and social aftermath of Partition, and
offers insight to the complex issues of identity tackled by many
post-colonial writers with key references to postmodern theorists
including Edward Said, Helene Cixous, and Julia Kristeva."
Parm Kaur, Black Alliance Newsletter
Dr Kathleen Firth teaches in Spain at the University of Barcelona.
She has researched the area of overseas South Asian literature.
