1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910785729103321

Autore

Paranjape Makarand R

Titolo

Making India: Colonialism, National Culture, and the Afterlife of Indian English Authority [[electronic resource] /] / by Makarand R. Paranjape

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Dordrecht : , : Springer Netherlands : , : Imprint : Springer, , 2012

ISBN

1-283-63394-9

9786613946393

94-007-4661-X

Edizione

[1st ed. 2012.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (273 p.)

Collana

Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures, , 2211-1107 ; ; 2

Disciplina

954.03

Soggetti

Comparative literature

Comparative Literature

India History British occupation, 1765-1947

India Civilization British influences

India Social conditions

India Intellectual life

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

I: Introduction -- II:“Usable Pasts”: Rammohun Roy’s Occidentalism -- III: Michael Madhusudan Dutt: Prodigal, Prodigy -- IV:  Bankimchandra Chatterjee and the Allegory of Rajmohan’s Wife -- V:  Subjects to Change:  Considering Women’s Authority -- VI:  Sri Aurobindo and the Renaissance in India? -- VII:  Spiritual vs. Historical Facts: Representing Swami Vivekananda -- VIII:  “Home and the World”:  Colonialism and AlterNativity in Tagore’s India -- IX:  Sarojini Naidu: Reclaiming a Kinship -- X:  The “Sanatani” Mahatma?Re-reading Gandhi Post-Hindutva.

Sommario/riassunto

Today’s India is almost completely unrecognizable from what it was at the eve of the colonial conquest. A sovereign nation, with a teeming, industrious population, it is an economic powerhouse and the world’s largest democracy. The question is how did it get to where it is now? Covering the period from 1800 to 1950, this study of about a dozen makers of modern India is a valuable addition to India’s cultural and



intellectual history. More specifically, it shows how through the very act of writing, often in English, Indian society was radically reconfigured. Writing itself became endowed with almost a charismatic authority, which continued to influence generations, long after the author’s death. By examining the lives and works of the makers of contemporary India, this study assesses their relationships with British colonialism and Indian traditions. Through debate, dialogue, conflict, confrontation, and reconciliation, India struggled not only with British colonialism, but also with itself and its own past, thus giving rise to a uniquely Indian version of liberalism. The religious and social reforms that laid the groundwork for the modern sub-continental state were proposed and advocated in English by prominent native voices. Merging culture, politics, language, and literature, this pathbreaking volume adds considerably to our understanding of a nation that looks set to achieve greater heights in the coming decades.