English Heart, Hindi Heartland

The Political Life of Literature in India

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Theory, Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book English Heart, Hindi Heartland by Rashmi Sadana, University of California Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Rashmi Sadana ISBN: 9780520952294
Publisher: University of California Press Publication: February 2, 2012
Imprint: University of California Press Language: English
Author: Rashmi Sadana
ISBN: 9780520952294
Publisher: University of California Press
Publication: February 2, 2012
Imprint: University of California Press
Language: English

English Heart, Hindi Heartland examines Delhi’s postcolonial literary world—its institutions, prizes, publishers, writers, and translators, and the cultural geographies of key neighborhoods—in light of colonial histories and the globalization of English. Rashmi Sadana places internationally recognized authors such as Salman Rushdie, Anita Desai, Vikram Seth, and Aravind Adiga in the context of debates within India about the politics of language and alongside other writers, including K. Satchidanandan, Shashi Deshpande, and Geetanjali Shree. Sadana undertakes an ethnographic study of literary culture that probes the connections between place, language, and text in order to show what language comes to stand for in people’s lives. In so doing, she unmasks a social discourse rife with questions of authenticity and cultural politics of inclusion and exclusion. English Heart, Hindi Heartland illustrates how the notion of what is considered to be culturally and linguistically authentic not only obscures larger questions relating to caste, religious, and gender identities, but that the authenticity discourse itself is continually in flux. In order to mediate and extract cultural capital from India’s complex linguistic hierarchies, literary practitioners strategically deploy a fluid set of cultural and political distinctions that Sadana calls "literary nationality." Sadana argues that English, and the way it is positioned among the other Indian languages, does not represent a fixed pole, but rather serves to change political and literary alliances among classes and castes, often in surprising ways.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

English Heart, Hindi Heartland examines Delhi’s postcolonial literary world—its institutions, prizes, publishers, writers, and translators, and the cultural geographies of key neighborhoods—in light of colonial histories and the globalization of English. Rashmi Sadana places internationally recognized authors such as Salman Rushdie, Anita Desai, Vikram Seth, and Aravind Adiga in the context of debates within India about the politics of language and alongside other writers, including K. Satchidanandan, Shashi Deshpande, and Geetanjali Shree. Sadana undertakes an ethnographic study of literary culture that probes the connections between place, language, and text in order to show what language comes to stand for in people’s lives. In so doing, she unmasks a social discourse rife with questions of authenticity and cultural politics of inclusion and exclusion. English Heart, Hindi Heartland illustrates how the notion of what is considered to be culturally and linguistically authentic not only obscures larger questions relating to caste, religious, and gender identities, but that the authenticity discourse itself is continually in flux. In order to mediate and extract cultural capital from India’s complex linguistic hierarchies, literary practitioners strategically deploy a fluid set of cultural and political distinctions that Sadana calls "literary nationality." Sadana argues that English, and the way it is positioned among the other Indian languages, does not represent a fixed pole, but rather serves to change political and literary alliances among classes and castes, often in surprising ways.

More books from University of California Press

Cover of the book From Village to City by Rashmi Sadana
Cover of the book Body of Victim, Body of Warrior by Rashmi Sadana
Cover of the book Crimes against Nature by Rashmi Sadana
Cover of the book Raise by Rashmi Sadana
Cover of the book How to Succeed in Academics, 2nd edition by Rashmi Sadana
Cover of the book The Atlas of Food by Rashmi Sadana
Cover of the book Rough-Hewn Land by Rashmi Sadana
Cover of the book Plane Queer by Rashmi Sadana
Cover of the book Toxic Injustice by Rashmi Sadana
Cover of the book The World of Sicilian Wine by Rashmi Sadana
Cover of the book Preaching Islamic Renewal by Rashmi Sadana
Cover of the book The Railway Journey by Rashmi Sadana
Cover of the book The Dialectical Imagination by Rashmi Sadana
Cover of the book American Ethnographic Film and Personal Documentary by Rashmi Sadana
Cover of the book Time Series Analysis in the Social Sciences by Rashmi Sadana
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy