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South Asian Atlantic Literature, 1970 Literature, Atlantic Asian South ‘Rethinking South Asian diasporic writing as an Atlantic phenomenon, this book boldly challenges the black-white framework that has dominated transatlantic studies and the EDINBURGH STUDIES IN South Asia-centrism that has dominated diaspora studies. A comprehensive and pioneering study of South Asian American and British Asian literature and film that will reorient future TRANSATLANTIC LITERATURES scholarship.’ Susan Koshy, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Series Editors: Susan Manning and Andrew Taylor ‘Maxey’s learned, comprehensive reading of South Asian diasporic writing through the lens of the transatlantic – attending to the critical balance between aesthetic modes, culture, history, and politics – enacts a crucial paradigm shift in contemporary theory by challenging many of the paradoxes of current approaches to postcolonial and Asian American studies.’ Professor Rocío G. Davis, City University of Hong Kong The first major interpretation of recent South Asian diasporic writing in specifically transatlantic terms –2010 The book is organised around four key themes: home and nation; travel and return; racial mixing; and food and eating. Ruth Maxey offers readings of canonical and less well-known South Asian American and British Asian writers and texts and of key cinematic works. She explores the formal and thematic tendencies of the works, relating them to gender politics, the marketplace, and issues of literary value and historical change. The book engages with established debates, while intervening in new ways in transatlantic studies, postcolonial literary studies and Asian American cultural studies. Ruth Maxey is a Lecturer in Modern American Literature at the University of Nottingham. Her work has appeared in such journals as Textual Practice, Journal of Commonwealth Literature, Kenyon Review, MELUS, Literature/Film Quarterly, South Asian Review and Journal of the Short Story in English. This is her first book. Ruth Maxey Ruth ISBN 978 0 7486 4188 8 Edinburgh University Press 22 George Square Edinburgh EH8 9LF SOUTH ASIAN ATLANTIC LITERATURE, www.euppublishing.com 1970 –2010 978-0-7486-4188-8 Edinburgh Ruth Maxey Jacket image: © Christopher Corr Jacket design: Barrie Tullett SOUTH ASIAN ATLANTIC LITERATURE, 1970–2010 MMAXEYAXEY PPRINT.inddRINT.indd i 117/10/20117/10/2011 111:301:30 EDINBURGH STUDIES IN TRANSATLANTIC LITERATURES Series Editors: Susan Manning and Andrew Taylor Modern global culture makes it clear that literary study can no longer operate on nation-based or exceptionalist models. In practice, American literatures have always been understood and defi ned in relation to the lit- eratures of Europe and Asia. The books in this series work within a broad comparative framework to question place-based identities and monocular visions, in historical contexts from the earliest European settlements to contemporary aff airs, and across all literary genres. They explore the multiple ways in which ideas, texts, objects and bodies travel across spatial and temporal borders, generating powerful forms of contrast and affi n- ity. The Edinburgh Studies in Transatlantic Literatures series fosters new paradigms of exchange, circulation and transformation for transatlantic literary studies, expanding the critical and theoretical work of this rapidly developing fi eld. Titles in the series include: Ethnicity and Cultural Authority: From Arnold to Du Bois, Daniel G. Williams Henry James, Oscar Wilde and Aesthetic Culture, Michèle Mendelssohn American Modernism’s Expatriate Scene: The Labour of Translation, Daniel Katz The Dandy in Irish and American Southern Fiction: Aristocratic Drag, Ellen Crowell Philanthropy in British and American Fiction: Dickens, Hawthorne, Eliot, and Howells, Frank Christianson Transatlantic Women’s Literature, Heidi Slettedahl Macpherson Cultural Authority in the Age of Whitman: A Transatlantic Perspective, Günter Leypoldt Mercenaries in British and American Literature, 1790–1830: Writing, Fighting, and Marrying for Money, Erik Simpson Spanish America and British Romanticism, 1777–1826: Rewriting Conquest, Rebecca Cole Heinowitz Transnationalism in Practice: Essays on American Studies, Literature and Religion, Paul Giles South Asian Atlantic Literature, 1970–2010, Ruth Maxey Visit the Edinburgh Studies in Transatlantic Literature web site at www. euppublishing.com/series/estl MMAXEYAXEY PPRINT.inddRINT.indd iiii 117/10/20117/10/2011 111:301:30 SOUTH ASIAN ATLANTIC LITERATURE, 1970–2010 ◆ ◆ ◆ RUTH MAXEY EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS MMAXEYAXEY PPRINT.inddRINT.indd iiiiii 117/10/20117/10/2011 111:301:30 For my parents, with love and thanks © Ruth Maxey, 2012 Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22 George Square, Edinburgh www.euppublishing.com Typeset in 11/13 Baskerville MT by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7486 4188 8 (hardback) The right of Ruth Maxey to be identifi ed as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. MMAXEYAXEY PPRINT.inddRINT.indd iivv 117/10/20117/10/2011 111:301:30 CONTENTS Acknowledgements vii Introduction: Framing South Asian Writing in America and Britain, 1970–2010 1 1. Home and Nation in South Asian Atlantic Literature 28 2. Close Encounters with Ancestral Space: Travel and Return in Transatlantic South Asian Writing 77 3. Brave New Worlds? Miscegenation in South Asian Atlantic Literature 119 4. ‘Mangoes and Coconuts and Grandmothers’: Food in Transatlantic South Asian Writing 163 Conclusion: The Future of South Asian Atlantic Literature 209 Bibliography 217 Index 247 MMAXEYAXEY PPRINT.inddRINT.indd v 117/10/20117/10/2011 111:301:30 MMAXEYAXEY PPRINT.inddRINT.indd vvii 117/10/20117/10/2011 111:301:30 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have helped me in the years leading up to the completion of this book, which has its origins in my PhD dissertation. I owe a large debt to my two PhD supervisors at University College London (UCL). Kasia Boddy was enthusiastic in getting the project off the ground and was giving of her time, ideas, and books. Hugh Stevens was a tower of strength in the latter stages of the PhD, showing me unfailing kindness and sensitivity, off ering invaluable advice at key moments, giving insightful feedback on my work, and providing a listening ear. Above all, he always behaved as if nothing was too much trouble. I am extremely grateful for the constant support he provided. Melissa Zeiger at Dartmouth College provided crucial early sug- gestions for how to shape my research, kindly volunteered to read my work, and helped me to improve it. At UCL, Danny Karlin enabled me to study in the department in the fi rst place, where I received funding to attend several international conferences and the opportunity to teach undergraduates. Within the graduate community itself, John Morton was consistently supportive. Susheila Nasta and Ruvani Ranasinha examined my PhD, providing useful and incisive feedback. During my undergradu- ate studies at Oxford, my tutors, Margaret Kean and the late Julia Briggs, also off ered encouragement and inspiration; while Charlotte Brewer, in particular, consistently supported and engaged with me. Indeed, it was her belief that I should pursue academic research which fi rst put the idea in my mind. Even further back, Helen Gillard and Patricia Lancaster had faith in my abilities and were instrumental in my decision to study English literature at degree level. A number of other people have helped me while I was researching MMAXEYAXEY PPRINT.inddRINT.indd vviiii 117/10/20117/10/2011 111:301:30 viii ] South Asian Atlantic Literature, 1970–2010 and writing this book. Meena Alexander agreed to be interviewed, gave freely of her time, and was always prepared to explore ideas with me. Amit Chaudhuri and Professor Supriya Chaudhuri were generous with their suggestions and time. Lars Ole Sauerberg published my fi rst article and kindly agreed to act as a referee. More recently, I wish to thank Jackie Jones at Edinburgh University Press – and Susan Manning and Andrew Taylor, the Edinburgh Studies in Transatlantic Literatures series editors – for accepting this book for publication and for being so helpful and positive throughout the writing and submission process. Comments from the Press’s two anonymous readers sharpened and improved the book in many ways and I am grateful to them for their time and input. I could not have completed this study without the sabbatical granted me by the School of American and Canadian Studies at Nottingham University, for which I off er sincere thanks; and I would like to acknowl- edge the intellectual and emotional support given to me by a number of colleagues and friends in the School, particularly Judie Newman, Helen Oakley, Celeste-Marie Bernier, Stephanie Lewthwaite, and Sinéad Moynihan. And in the years since I began my research, several other friends have off ered valuable moral support, including Richard Hogwood, Simon Brumfi t, Sharon Parker, Natalie Sheehan, Kirsty Bremner, and Katherine Griffi ths. More recently, Sherry Harby has been a great help and reassurance to me throughout the fi nal stages of writing this book. Finally, I would like to thank my husband and family for their support. My sister, Margaret, has always had faith in me and has off ered unfail- ingly helpful advice – intellectual, professional, and emotional – at every step of the way. I could not have asked for a better sister. My husband, Olly, has given me a huge amount of love and encouragement and it is diffi cult to fi nd the right words to thank him for all he has done over the years. His generosity has been both emotional and fi nancial; and through- out the writing of this book, he has been unstintingly patient, drawing on boundless reserves of strength, humour, and imagination. Our daughter, Rebecca, has brought us a great deal of happiness and provided a regular, welcome break from the intensity of fi nishing the book. Last of all, I would like to thank my parents, Robert and Carole, for everything they have done to help bring this book to completion.