Bearing witness : partition, independence, end of the Raj / Sukeshi Kamra.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kamra, Sukeshi.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

India--History--Partition, 1947.

India.

History.

India--Politics and government--1919-1947.

Politics and government.

Punjab (India)--History--Partition, 1947.

Punjab (India).

India--History--1947-.

Pakistan--History.

Pakistan.

Physical Description:

xvi, 414 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Calgary : University of Calgary Press, [2002]

Summary:

The dates 14-15 August 1947 reverberate with meaning for Indian and Pakistani people by marking both the independence of India and the birth of two nation-states: India and Pakistan.

Bearing Witness nuances this historical event by considering contemporary and post-event responses to partition. From testimonials and speeches by Jinnah and Nehru to Indian and British fictional and non-fictional accounts, as well as political cartoons in the English press, Sukeshi Kamra offers an inductive study of primary texts that have been ignored until now. The book is an interdisciplinary study of the three groups most affected by the events of 1947: the British, who were required to leave; the educated Indians, for whom the moment was a rite of passage; and the survivors of Partition, for whom the event is inextricably linked with trauma.

Contents:

1 The Word on the Streets: Editorials and Political Cartoons in English-Language Dailies (1947) 37

2 'Dare to Know': Aug. 15, 1947, the Partition 111

3 Narratives of Pain: Fiction and Autobiography as 'Psychotestimonies' to the Partition 165

4 The Children of India Remember: Reflections, Chronicles, Diaries and Autobiographies 201

5 The Rhetoric of Anxiety: The End of the Raj in the Writings of the British and the British Press 237

Appendix A Historical Background to the Partition in the Punjab 307

Appendix B History of the Indian Press under Colonial Rule 319

Appendix C Biographies 329.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 385-400) and index.

ISBN:

1552380416 :

OCLC:

47689725