| Colonial Karma: The Problem of Action in the Indian English Novel 2004 Edition Contributor(s): Rege, J. (Author) |
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ISBN: 1403964009 ISBN-13: 9781403964007 Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan OUR PRICE: $52.24 Product Type: Hardcover Published: December 2004 Annotation: Although the Indian novel in English has received unprecedented acclaim on the global stage over the last two decades, most readers outside India are unaware of its long history. "Colonial Karma "offers a much-needed overview, tracing the Indian English novel from its nineteenth-century colonial origins to the turn of the twenty-first century, with each chapter focusing on a particular historical moment. It links the development of the novel in India with that of nationalism, showing how English-educated Indians sought to solve their problems of individual and civic action by redefining the concept of karma to create a new, hybrid idea of action. The term "colonial karma" refers both to plot action in the literary texts and, more broadly, to the persistence of colonialist and nationalist thought in post-independence India. After considering early works in English and in Indian languages by Bankimchandra Chatterjee, O. Chandu Menon, and Rabindranath Tagore, "Colonial Karma" discusses novels by a wide range of writers, including K.S. Venkataramani, Mulk Raj Anand, R.K. Narayan, Raja Rao, Anita Desai, Salman Rushdie, Shashi Deshpande, Githa Hariharan, and Arundhati Roy. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | Asian - Indic - Literary Criticism | Modern - General |
| Dewey: 823.009 |
| LCCN: 2004044256 |
| Physical Information: 0.77" H x 6.38" W x 9.5" (1.02 lbs) 208 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Indian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Colonial Karma tracks the Indian English novel from its colonial origins to the present, each chapter focusing on a particular historical moment. Linking the novel's development with that of Indian cultural nationalism, it argues that nationalism seeks to solve the problem of action for its middle-class subject by redefining the Bhagavad-Gita's concept of karma for political purposes. Two figures serve to exemplify this problem: Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita and Saleem in Midnight's Children . After considering influential early novels in Indian languages, Colonial Karma discusses novels in English by Narayan, Anand, Rao, Anita Desai, Salman Rushdie, Shashi Deshpande and Githa Hariharan. |