Inter-sections brings together a collection of discursive essays that deal with a range of contemporary issues—from the history of literary genres to the future of humanities; from locating Indian literatures to mapping Indian English fiction and drama; from Punjabi literature, history and culture to the theory and practice of translation; from media-driven literary evaluation to multiple ways of shaping popular consciousness. Divided into four (inter-)sections, these essays raise some fundamental questions regarding our postcolonial, postmodern era and emphasise the need for an interdisciplinary approach to mediate both thought and knowledge. The easy, accessible, non-pedantic style of these essays is bound to engage scholars as well as lay readers.
Rana Nayar is Professor and Chairperson at the Department of English and Cultural Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh. The recipient of a Sahitya Akademi prize for translation and a Charles Wallace India Trust Fellow, Nayar’s main areas of interest include theatre, translation studies, and literary and cultural theory. He has translated several modern classics of Punjabi literature into English, and has acted in and directed over twenty theatre productions. Among his other publications are Edward Albee: Towards a Typology of Relationships and Breathing Spaces, a collection of poems.
Preface Author’s Acknowledgements
Prologue: Notes towards the History/Theory of Genres Reading Indian and Indian English Literatures 1. Locating/Dis-locating Indian Literatures: A Metacritical Narrative 2. Re-contextualising the Post-1980s Indian Novel in English 3. Emerging Trends in Post-Independence Indian English Drama Punjabi Literature: Some Contexts and Texts 4. Punjabi Literature through the Prism of History 5. The Novel as a Site of Cultural Memory: Gurdial Singh’s Parsa 6. Atamjit Singh’s Kamloops Dian Macchian: Polyphonic Discourse and Dramatic Art 7. Narratives of Dispersal: Reading Raghbir Dhand’s Stories 8. Postcolonial Katha: Continuities and Ruptures in Videshi Punjabi Short Fiction Reading Translation(s) 9. Author as Translator: Paradigms and Possibilities in the Indian Context 10. Punjabi and English: Mediating the History of Language, Literature and Translation 11. Bhisham Sahni’s Tamas: Multiple Historical Perspectives and Literary Art 12. Mahasweta Devi’s Hajar Churashir Ma: A Narrative of Healing Power, Hegemony and Mass Media: Case Studies in Popular Consciousness 13. Of Language, Consciousness and Mass Media 14. Of Influence, Power and Empowerment 15. Of Little Magazines in Punjabi: A Historical Overview 16. Class, Ideology and Politics of Globalisation: A Case Study of Aravind Adiga Epilogue: Rediscovering Humanities in Life and Literature