2 options
The decades of disillusionment : essays on Indian literature and cinema after Nehru / Vikrant Dadawala.
Connect to full text Available online
View online- Format:
- Book
- Thesis/Dissertation
- Author/Creator:
- Dadawala, Vikrant, author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- South Asian studies.
- Film studies.
- English literature.
- British & Irish literature.
- Language.
- Cold War.
- Political activism.
- Communism.
- Confidence.
- Democracy.
- Demonstrations & protests.
- Authoritarianism.
- Egalitarianism.
- Hindus.
- Famine.
- Middle class.
- Modernism.
- Postcolonialism.
- Nationalism.
- Socialism.
- Comparative literature.
- English--Penn dissertations.
- Penn dissertations--English.
- Local Subjects:
- South Asian studies.
- Film studies.
- English literature.
- British & Irish literature.
- Language.
- Cold War.
- Political activism.
- Communism.
- Confidence.
- Democracy.
- Demonstrations & protests.
- Authoritarianism.
- Egalitarianism.
- Hindus.
- Famine.
- Middle class.
- Modernism.
- Postcolonialism.
- Nationalism.
- Socialism.
- Comparative literature.
- English--Penn dissertations.
- Penn dissertations--English.
- Genre:
- Academic theses.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (273 pages)
- Contained In:
- Dissertations Abstracts International 83-03A.
- Place of Publication:
- [Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] : University of Pennsylvania ; Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2021.
- Language Note:
- English
- System Details:
- Mode of access: World Wide Web.
- text file
- Summary:
- This dissertation is a study of themes of disillusionment and disappointment in modern Indian literature and cinema. The death of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, marks the symbolic starting point for the project. Part I of the dissertation focuses on the period of crisis between Nehru's death in 1964 and the declaration of the Indian Emergency in 1975; Part II analyses themes of mohabhang ('disenchantment', with connotations of 'broken love') in Hindi literature and Indian New Wave cinema, primarily focusing on the 1970s and 80s. Individual chapters traces parallel but distinct paths through the decades of disillusionment that followed Nehru's death, analyzing documentary films and newsreels, Indian writing in English, prison memoirs, arthouse cinema in Hindi, and modern Hindi poetry. Through close-reading, visual analysis, and archival research, "The Decades of Disillusionment" offers a fresh, multilingual perspective on mohabhang as a pivotal structure of feeling in post-independence India, the Cold War as an essential context for Indian cultural life, mofussil ('provincial', or backward) modernism in Hindi and English, the literary roots of Indian New Wave cinema, and the fading allure of socialism in the former Third World. In general, literary critics have interpreted disillusionment in negative terms: as the loss of energy, commitment, or world-making confidence. This project suggests an alternative interpretation. Narratives of disillusionment and disenchantment do not just reflect despair, but also participate in a vital recalibration and reinvention of hope by interrogating previously cherished utopian projects. Rather than deifying or demonizing Prime Minister Nehru's legacy, "The Decades of Disillusionment" recovers a more organic sense of how middle-class India began to lose faith in his dreams.
- Notes:
- Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 83-03, Section: A.
- Advisors: Kaul, Suvir; Committee members: Loomba, Ania; Goulding, Gregory; Nerlekar, Anjali.
- Department: English.
- Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 2021.
- Local Notes:
- School code: 0175
- ISBN:
- 9798535569642
- Access Restriction:
- Restricted for use by site license.
- This item is not available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.
- This item must not be sold to any third party vendors.
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.