About the Book
India is a construct that defies rigid definitions, classifications and strict categorizations. It cherishes centuries-old values of diversity and cultural pluralism. Its unifying principles of sense of belonging and dialogic co-existence have been recognised for long, but the intriguing aspect of how these multiple cultures and conflicting ideologies could co-exist for so many centuries is a question that attracted the attention of scholars, thinkers and leaders. In the process, the ‘idea of India’ or ‘what constitutes Indianness’ has been visited and revisited by many. The concepts of multiculturalism and Indianness have also been debated for long which, in fact, constitute the subjects of scrutiny in this anthology, in the light of Indian Fiction scene. Since the whole ethic is based on different identities, it enables every segment to make a meaning of itself. In a mutually beneficial manner, the whole offers space to its parts and the mini nations sustain the whole, strengthening the idea of India and the spirit of multiculturalism.
This anthology presents the question of Indianness from multiple perspectives. It offers a rich mosaic of essays dealing with fiction vis-à-vis contested issues of plurality, multiple identities, and the supposed inauthenticity or otherwise of Nationalism as well as NRI writers. Besides, the articles on different fictional works attempt to focus on issues of violence, migration, class, gender and caste distinctions.
In addition, an attempt has been made to show that the concerns of Indian English writers mostly centred around macro issues such as freedom movement, political developments, alienation, middle-class mores, familial trauma, re-presentation of history while the regional fiction writers concentrated on micro issues, the ground realities. The inclusion of bhasha fiction in the anthology is aimed at driving home the point that Regional Fiction in English is complementary to Indian English Fiction with proliferation of good translations of classics from Indian languages.
Contents
1. The Question of Nationalism: An Indian Response / P. Mallikarjuna Rao
2. Indian English Fiction and the Question of Indianness: A General Assessment / Syed Mujeebuddin
3. NRI Writers versus RNI Critics / P. Shiv Kumar
4. Recent Indian Novel in English: Some Animadversions / M. Rajagopalachary
5. Tradition, Caste and Raja Rao / G. Thirupathi Kumar
6. Interrogating Tradition: A Study of Mulk Raj Anand's Gauri / G. Thirupathi Kumar
7. Gendering Indian Fiction in English: Mapping Masculinity / Mittapalli Rajeshwar
8. Arun Joshi's The Last Labyrinth and a 'Secret Curiosity' / J. Yellaiah
9. The Hidden Layers of the World of Haroun / Roshin George
10. From Bombay to Bharat: Bollywood and India in I. Allan Sealy's Hero: A Fable / G. Sujatha
11. What the Nation Meant to Them: Nationalism and the Quest for Meaning in Attia Hosain's Sunlight on a Broken Column / Arash P. Fazli
12. Male Constructs and Female Choices in Githa Hariharan's The Thousand Faces of Night / J. Yellaiah and G. Pratima
13. Not for a Season Only: Re-Narrating History in Looking Through Glass and A Fine Balance / Alessandro Monti
14. 'Honour' Killings and the Dalits in Fiction and Films: Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things and Priyadarshan's Aakrosh / Mittapalli Rajeshwar
15. Reflections on the Crystal Palace: The Glass Palace as a Postcolonial Text / T. Vinoda
16. Language and Silence in Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide / S. Latha
17. Crossovers and Makeovers: A Study of Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake / T. Vinoda
18. The Human Incompatibility and the Inside of Interpretation: A Study of Jhumpa Lahiri's Short Fiction / B. Gopal Rao
19. The Story-teller in the Information Age: Vikram Chandra's Entwining Narratives / Christopher Rollason.
20. The Image of Contemporary India in Rukun Advani's Beethoven Among the Cows: A Reading / B. Krishnaiah
21. Shattered Lives and Scarred Souls: Women in Partition Stories / P. Mallikarjuna Rao and Radhika Purohit
22. From Oppression to Assertion: A Note on Baby Kamble's The Prisons We Broke / K.V. Ramana Chary
23. Charting Alter'native' Terrain: Class, Culture, Gender Resistance in Mahasweta Devi's “Draupadi” / K. Damodar Rao and B. Vijaya
24. The Struggle for Social Justice in Paraja / M. Prabhakar and D. Vijaya Prakash
25. Tribulations and Marginality of Dalits in Omprakash Valmiki's Joothan / B. Krishnaiah and A. Komuraiah
26. Gendered Articulations: A Reading of Select Telugu Short Fiction in English Translation / Palakurthy Dinakar
About the Author / Editor
J. Yellaiah retired as Professor of English from Kakatiya University, Warangal. As Head of the Department of English, he edited two volumes of Kakatiya Journal of English Studies and organized a National Seminar on New Indian English Novel. He served the Department as Chairperson, Board of Studies for two years. He was on the Boards of Studies of many Universities in the state and a Selection Committee Member of State Universities and National Institutes of Technology, Warangal and Raipur. He served as the Director of Kakatiya Adhyayana Kendram; Principal of University PG College, Subedari; Principal of University College; and Dean, Academic Audit, Kakatiya University. Besides his academic and administrative positions he took part in many outreach programmes.
K. Damodar Rao retired as Associate Professor from the Department of English, Kakatiya University, Warangal. His first critical work was The Novels of Aye Kwei Armah (1993). Postcolonial Indian English Fiction: Decentering the Nation (2016) Multiculturalism in Indian Tradition and Literature (2016), and Bhakti Movement and Literature: Re-forming a Tradition (2016) are jointly edited critical anthologies with M. Rajagopalachary. He has extensively published Telugu poems and short stories in literary journals and anthologies. His recent works include an edited anthology Mapping English: Recent Studies in Language and Literature: A Festschrift to Prof. T. Vinoda (2016) and Telangana Harvest: Telugu Short Fiction 1912–2011 (2017), a collection of fifty Telugu stories in English translation.
