The world in a grain of sand : postcolonial literature and radical universalism / Nivedita Majumdar.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Majumdar, Nivedita, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Postcolonialism.

Postcolonialism in literature.

Decolonization in literature.

Literature--History and criticism.

Literature.

Developing countries--Literatures.

Developing countries.

Genre:

Literatures.

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xi, 225 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Verso, 2021.

Summary:

"Radical universalism vs postcolonial theory. The World in a Grain of Sand offers a framework for reading literature from the global South that goes against the grain of dominant theories in cultural studies, especially, postcolonial theory. It critiques the valorization of the local in cultural theories typically accompanied by a rejection of universal categories - viewed as Eurocentric projections. But the privileging of the local usually amounts to an exercise in exoticization of the South. The book argues that the rejection of Eurocentric theories can be complemented by embracing another, richer and non-parochial form of universalism. Through readings of texts from India, Sri Lanka, Palestine and Egypt, the book shows that the fine grained engagement with culture, the mapping of ordinary lives not just as objects but subjects of their history, is embedded in much of postcolonial literature in a radical universalism - one that is rooted in local realities, but is able to unearth in them the needs, conflicts and desires that stretch across cultures and time. It is a universalism recognized by Marx and steeped in the spirit of anti-colonialism, but hostile to any whiff of exoticism"--Google books.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. One A Grain of Sand

1. Political Agency And Postcolonial Studies

2. Rabindranath, Sharatchandra And The Gender Question

3. Neo-Orientalism In Postcolonial Literature

4. The Neoliberal Logic In Indian Anglophone Literature

pt. Two The World in the Grain

5. Indigeneity As Myth And Message

6. The National And The Universal

7. The Radical Universalism Of A. Sivanandan.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

ebook version :

ISBN:

1788737466

9781788737463

OCLC:

1201680148