The literature of the Indian diaspora : theorizing the diasporic imaginary / Vijay Mishra.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mishra, Vijay.

Series:

Routledge research in postcolonial literatures ; 16.

Routledge research in postcolonial literatures ; 16

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Indic literature (English)--Foreign countries--History and criticism.

Indic literature (English).

East Indians--Foreign countries--Intellectual life.

East Indians.

East Indian diaspora in literature.

East Indians--Foreign countries.

Intellectual life.

Foreign countries.

India--In literature.

India.

Physical Description:

xix, 286 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2007.

Summary:

The Literature of the Indian Diaspora: Theorizing the diasporic imaginary constitutes a major study of the literature, and other cultural texts of the Indian diaspora. It is also an important contribution to diaspora theory in general. Examining both the 'old' Indian diaspora of early capitalism, following the abolition of slavery, and the 'new' diaspora linked to movements of late capital, Vijay Mishra argues that a full understanding of the Indian diaspora can only be achieved if attention is paid to the particular locations of both the 'old' and the 'new' in nation-states.

Applying a theoretical framework based on trauma, mourning/impossible mourning, spectres, identity, travel, translation, and recognition, Mishra uses the term 'imaginary' to refer to any ethnic enclave in a nation-state that defines itself, consciously or unconsciously, as a group in displacement. He examines the works of key writers, many now based across the globe in Canada, Australia, America and the UK - among them V. S. Naipaul, Salman Rushdie, M. G. Vassanji, Shani Mootoo, Bharati Mukherjee, David Dabydeen, Rohinton Mistry and Hanif Kureishi - to show how they exemplify both the diasporic imaginary and the respective traumas of the 'old' and 'new' Indian diasporas.

Contents:

Prologue: 'That time is past' xv

Introduction: The diasporic imaginary 1

1 The girmit ideology 22

2 Indenture and diaspora poetics 71

3 Traumatic memory, mourning and V. S. Naipaul 106

4 Diaspora and the multicultural state 133

5 The law of the hyphen and the postcolonial condition 184

6 Diasporic narratives of Salman Rushdie 212

Epilogue: The subaltern speaks 245.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [256]-279) and index.

ISBN:

0415424178

9780415424172

OCLC:

71004308