Palgrave Studies in Literary Anthropology Series Editors Deborah Reed-Danahay Department of Anthropology The State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo, New York, USA Helena Wulff Department of Social Anthropology Stockholm University Stockholm, Sweden This book series aims to publish explorations of new ethnographic objects and emerging genres of writing at the intersection of literary and anthro- pological studies. Books in this series will be grounded in ethnographic perspectives and the broader cross-cultural lens that anthropology brings to the study of reading and writing. The series will explore the ethnogra- phy of fiction, ethnographic fiction, narrative ethnography, creative non- fiction, memoir, autoethnography, and the connections between travel literature and ethnographic writing. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15120 Diana Dimitrova • Thomas de Bruijn Editors Imagining Indianness Cultural Identity and Literature Editors Diana Dimitrova Thomas de Bruijn Palgrave Studies in Literary Anthropology ISBN 978-3-319-41014-2 ISBN 978-3-319-41015-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-41015-9 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016957710 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub- lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: © Robin Chittenden / Alamy Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland To my professors Monika Horstmann and Axel Michaels Diana Dimitrova EDITORS’ PReFACe Palgrave Studies in Literary Anthropology publishes explorations of new ethnographic objects and emerging genres of writing at the intersection of literary and anthropological studies. Books in this series are grounded in ethnographic perspectives and the broader cross-cultural lens that anthro- pology brings to the study of reading and writing. By introducing work that applies an anthropological approach to literature, whether drawing on ethnography or other materials in relation to anthropological and liter- ary theory, this series moves the conversation forward not only in liter- ary anthropology but in general anthropology, literary studies, cultural studies, sociology, ethnographic writing and creative writing. The “literary turn” in anthropology and critical research on world literatures share a comparable sensibility regarding global perspectives. Fiction and autobiography have connections to ethnography that underscore the idea of the author as ethnographer and the ethnographer as author. Literary works are frequently included in anthropological research and writing, as well as in studies that do not focus specifically on litera- ture. Anthropologists take an interest in fiction and memoir set in their field locations, and produced by “native” writers, in order to further their insights into the cultures and contexts they research. Experimental genres in anthropology have benefitted from the style and structure of fiction and autoethnography, as well as by other expressive forms ranging from film and performance art to technology, especially the internet and social media. There are renowned fiction writers who trained as anthropologists but moved on to a literary career. Their anthropologically inspired work is a common sounding board in literary anthropology. In the endeavour vii viii EDITORS’ PREFACE to foster writing skills in different genres, there are now courses on ethno- graphic writing, anthropological writing genres, experimental writing and even creative writing taught by anthropologists. And increasingly, literary and reading communities are attracting anthropological attention, includ- ing an engagement with issues of how to reach a wider audience. Palgrave Studies in Literary Anthropology publishes scholarship on the ethnography of fiction and other writing genres, the connections between travel literature and ethnographic writing and internet writing. It also publishes creative works such as ethnographic fiction, narrative eth- nography, creative non-fiction, memoir and autoethnography. Books in the series include monographs and edited collections, as well as shorter works that appear as Palgrave Pivots. This series aims to reach a broad audience among scholars, students and a general readership. Buffalo, NY, USA Deborah Reed-Danahay Stockholm, Sweden Helena Wulff ADVISORY BOARD Ruth Behar, University of Michigan Don Brenneis, University of California, Santa Cruz Regina Bendix, University of Göttingen Mary Gallagher, University College Dublin Kirin Narayan, Australian National University Nigel Rapport, University of St Andrews Ato Quayson, University of Toronto Julia Watson, Ohio State University CONTeNTS 1 Introduction: On “Indianness” and Indian Cultural Identity in South Asian Literature 1 Diana Dimitrova Part I Indianness, Literature and Culture: A Critical Perspective 13 2 Of Many Indias: Alternative Nationhoods in Contemporary Indian Poetry 15 K. Satchidanandan 3 Reviewing Nirmal Varma, Jaidev and the Indianness of Indian Literature 35 Hans Harder 4 Indianness as a Category in Literary Criticism on Nay ī Kah ān ī 55 Thomas de Bruijn 5 Imagining “Indianness” and Modern Hindi Drama 77 Diana Dimitrova ix x Contents Part II Indian Cultural Identity and the Crisis of Modernity: Reworking of Myth and Tradition 93 6 The Indian Contexts and Subtexts of My Text 95 Krishna Baldev Vaid 7 Kishorilal Gosvami’s Indumatı̄ 111 G. H. Schokker 8 Indianness, Absurdism, Existentialism, and the Work of Imagination: Vinod Kumar Shukla’s Naukar kı̄ kamı̄z 131 Martin Christof-Fuechsle 9 ‘Subah kī sair’ and ‘Dūsrı̄ duniyā’, Two Short Stories by Nirmal Varma 147 Mariola Offredi Index 163 THe EDITORS Diana Dimitrova obtained her Ph.D. in Modern and Classical Indology at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, in 2000. She is Professor of Hinduism and South Asian Religions at the University of Montreal in Montreal, Canada. Her research interests are Hindi drama and theatre, Bollywood film, modern and pre-modern literary and religious cultures of North India, especially sant and bhakti literary and religious traditions. She is the author of Hinduism and Hindi Theater (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016); Gender, Religion, and Modern Hindi Drama (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008); and Western Tradition and Naturalistic Hindi Theatre (New York: Peter Lang, 2004). She is also the editor of The Other in South Asian Religion, Literature and Film: Perspectives on Otherism and Otherness (New York and London: Routledge, 2014) and Religion in Literature and Film in South Asia (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). Her articles include “The Treatment of Women and Gender in the Plays Asharh ka ek din and Adhe adhure by Mohan Rakesh (1925–1972)” in Tohfa-e-dil. Festschrift Helmut Nespital (Reinbek: I. Wezler, 2001); “Of Satis, Sitas, and Miras: Three Female Protagonists in Modern Hindi Drama” in Heroes and Heritage: The Protagonist in Indian Literature and Film (Leiden: Research School CNWS, Leiden University, 2003); “The Indian Character of Modern Hindi Drama: Neo-Sanskritic, Pro-Western Naturalistic or Nativistic Dramas?” in Theology and Literature: Rethinking Reader Response (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006); “Upendranath Ashk’s Play Tufan se pahle and Hindu-Muslim Cultural Hybridity” in Voices from South Asia (Zagreb: Bibliotheca Orientalica of the Croatian Philological Society, 2006); “The Development of Sanatana xi xii The Editors Dharma in the Twentieth Century: A Radhasoami Perspective” The International Journal of Hindu Studies, Volume 1, Issue 1 (2007): 89–98; “Neo-­Sanskritic and Naturalistic Hindi Drama,” in Modern Indian Theatre (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011); and “Hinduism and Its Others in Bollywood Film of the 2000s,” Journal of Religion & Film: Vol. 20: Iss. 1, Article 10. 20 pages. Thomas de Bruijn studied Indian languages and culture at Leiden University, where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1996 on a thesis on the poetics of Malik Muhammad Jayasi’s Padmāvat. Later, de Bruijn turned his atten- tion to modern Hindi writing and published on various aspects of the Nayī Kahānī movement. Themes in his research are the esthetics of Hindi writing of both modern and pre-modern periods and its reception in his- toriography and literary criticism. During 2004–2005 he taught Hindi literature at INALCO