This book is a comprehensive critical re-reading of Nayantara Sahgal’s oeuvre. One of the most significant Indian English writers, her fictional and non-fictional engagement with historical events and political dilemmas inextricably links her to the colonial, anti-colonial and post-colonial discourse in India. Drawing transcontinental connections with the ideas of Fanon, Foucault, Said, Beauvoir, White, Beck and Habermas the monograph juxtaposes recurring themes in her writing with the ideas of significant Indian post-colonial commentators. Tracing the subliminal tendencies in her writing to Gandhian humanity and Nehruvian pragmaticism, the book moves beyond clichés of feminist criticism and genealogical ties to unveil a unique artist who has folded nearly a century of Indian experience in her work.
Drawing on novels, essays, speeches, journalism and interviews by Nayantara Sahgal, this volume will be of great interest to scholars of South Asian literature, post-colonialism, politics and contemporary history/culture/change.
Part I CONTEXTS AND INTERTEXTS 1. Introduction 2. Intellectual Intertexts 3. Moral Moorings: Gandhi and Nehru 4. Contemporary Intersections/Deflections: VS Naipaul, Salman Rushdie and Arundhati Roy Part II – NOVELS AND MEMOIRS 5. Autobiographical Effacement: Prison and Chocolate Cake, From Fear Set Free and Relationship 6. Political Interventions: Storm in Chandigarh, A Situation in New Delhi and Rich Like Us 7. Cosmopolitanism and Historiographic Fiction: Plans for Departure, Mistaken Identity and Lesser Breeds 8. Post-secularism and the Religious Turn: When the Moon Shines by Day, The Fate of Butterflies and Encounter with Kiran 9. Afterword
Biography
Maninder Sidhu is Professor and Head, Department of English and Centre for Research at Government College for Girls -11, Punjab University, Chandigarh. She recently published a monograph titled, Nayantara Sahgal: A Century of Political Insights. She has been published in national and international journals and contributed chapters in academic books. Her article, ‘Underground on Earth: The Theoretical Conundrum in Salman Rushdie’s Joseph Anton’ is widely acclaimed. Besides Indian English literature, her other areas of interest are critical theory, cultural studies and diasporic writing. She also shares some of her lighter pieces in the Hindustan Times.
