‘The Mahatma Misunderstood’ studies the relationship between the production of novels in late-col... more ‘The Mahatma Misunderstood’ studies the relationship between the production of novels in late-colonial India and nationalist agitation promoted by the Indian National Congress. The volume examines the process by which novelists who were critically engaged with Gandhian nationalism, and who saw both the potentials and the pitfalls of Gandhian political strategies, came to be seen as the Mahatma’s standard-bearers rather than his loyal opposition.
Author(s): Shingavi, Snehal Ashok | Advisor(s): Jan Mohamed, Abdul | Abstract: AbstractThe Mahatm... more Author(s): Shingavi, Snehal Ashok | Advisor(s): Jan Mohamed, Abdul | Abstract: AbstractThe Mahatma Misunderstood: the politics and forms of South Asian literary nationalismbySnehal Ashok ShingaviDoctor of Philosophy in EnglishUniversity of California, BerkeleyProfessor Abdul JanMohamed, ChairSouth Asian nationalism has been dismissed as a Eurocentric derivative, as elite, as unwilling to solve the problems that it finds in colonialism, and as politically incapable of warding off the problems posed by newer transnational circuits of power and exchange. This dissertation contends that in the novels of the 1930s and 1940s middle-class nationalists developed different notions of the nation and nationalism than their elite counterparts, and that even as they stood behind the banner of Gandhi and the Indian National Congress Party, they marched for more radical interpretations of and independent interventions into the nationalist project. Despite Gandhi's heavy presence as the dominan...
For the last several weeks, the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has been the setting f... more For the last several weeks, the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has been the setting for an immense crackdown by the Indian central government against the civilian population. The most…
Over the past month, Bangladesh's textile industry—one of the most exploitative in the world—... more Over the past month, Bangladesh's textile industry—one of the most exploitative in the world—has been rocked by strikes and protests. The level of repression used against the Bangladeshi textile…
While most critics read Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger as a critique of capitalism and pover... more While most critics read Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger as a critique of capitalism and poverty, the novel's deep interest in slumming and passing reveals a darker endorsement of libertarian ideologies. The problem with the novel's central trope, the class masquerade, is that it functions simultaneously as a critique of caste identitarianism that also aligns the novel with anti-reservation politics in India. As a result, the novel is better understood as the intersection of neoliberal narratives of poverty alleviation ("poverty capital") and libertarian narratives of individual uplift, even if that uplift is morally tainted.
‘The Mahatma Misunderstood’ studies the relationship between the production of novels in late-col... more ‘The Mahatma Misunderstood’ studies the relationship between the production of novels in late-colonial India and nationalist agitation promoted by the Indian National Congress. The volume examines the process by which novelists who were critically engaged with Gandhian nationalism, and who saw both the potentials and the pitfalls of Gandhian political strategies, came to be seen as the Mahatma’s standard-bearers rather than his loyal opposition.
Author(s): Shingavi, Snehal Ashok | Advisor(s): Jan Mohamed, Abdul | Abstract: AbstractThe Mahatm... more Author(s): Shingavi, Snehal Ashok | Advisor(s): Jan Mohamed, Abdul | Abstract: AbstractThe Mahatma Misunderstood: the politics and forms of South Asian literary nationalismbySnehal Ashok ShingaviDoctor of Philosophy in EnglishUniversity of California, BerkeleyProfessor Abdul JanMohamed, ChairSouth Asian nationalism has been dismissed as a Eurocentric derivative, as elite, as unwilling to solve the problems that it finds in colonialism, and as politically incapable of warding off the problems posed by newer transnational circuits of power and exchange. This dissertation contends that in the novels of the 1930s and 1940s middle-class nationalists developed different notions of the nation and nationalism than their elite counterparts, and that even as they stood behind the banner of Gandhi and the Indian National Congress Party, they marched for more radical interpretations of and independent interventions into the nationalist project. Despite Gandhi's heavy presence as the dominan...
For the last several weeks, the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has been the setting f... more For the last several weeks, the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has been the setting for an immense crackdown by the Indian central government against the civilian population. The most…
Over the past month, Bangladesh's textile industry—one of the most exploitative in the world—... more Over the past month, Bangladesh's textile industry—one of the most exploitative in the world—has been rocked by strikes and protests. The level of repression used against the Bangladeshi textile…
While most critics read Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger as a critique of capitalism and pover... more While most critics read Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger as a critique of capitalism and poverty, the novel's deep interest in slumming and passing reveals a darker endorsement of libertarian ideologies. The problem with the novel's central trope, the class masquerade, is that it functions simultaneously as a critique of caste identitarianism that also aligns the novel with anti-reservation politics in India. As a result, the novel is better understood as the intersection of neoliberal narratives of poverty alleviation ("poverty capital") and libertarian narratives of individual uplift, even if that uplift is morally tainted.
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