The Penguin Book of Modern Indian Short Stories


Book Description

Twenty classic short stories from master writers across the country This superb collection contains some of the best Indian short stories written in the last fifty years, both in English and in the regional languages. Some of these stories – ‘We Have Arrived in Amritsar’ by Bhisham Sahni, ‘Companions’ by Raja Rao, ‘The Sky and the Cat’ by U.R. Anantha Murthy, ‘A Devoted Son’ by Anita Desai – have been widely anthologized and are well known. Others, like Premendra Mitra’s ‘The Discovery of Telenapota’, Gangadhar Gadgil’s ‘The Dog that Ran in Circles’, Mowni’s ‘A Loss of Identity’, O.V. Vijayan’s ‘The Wart’ and Devanuru Mahadeva’s ‘Amasa’, are less familiar to readers but are nevertheless classics of the art of the short story. This new and revised edition includes three additional classics: R.K. Narayan’s ‘Another Community’, Avinash Dolas’s ‘The Victim’ and Ismat Chughtai’s ‘The Wedding Shroud’. The Penguin Book of Modern Indian Short Stories is a marvellous and entertaining introduction to the rich diversity of pleasures that the Indian short story–a form that has produced masters in over a dozen languages–can offer.




Telling Stories


Book Description

The present volume is a highly comprehensive assessment of the postcolonial short story since the thirty-six contributions cover most geographical areas concerned. Another important feature is that it deals not only with exclusive practitioners of the genre (Mansfield, Munro), but also with well-known novelists (Achebe, Armah, Atwood, Carey, Rushdie), so that stimulating comparisons are suggested between shorter and longer works by the same authors. In addition, the volume is of interest for the study of aspects of orality (dialect, dance rhythms, circularity and trickster figure for instance) and of the more or less conflictual relationships between the individual (character or implied author) and the community. Furthermore, the marginalized status of women emerges as another major theme, both as regards the past for white women settlers, or the present for urbanized characters, primarily in Africa and India. The reader will also have the rare pleasure of discovering Janice Kulik Keefer's “Fox,” her version of what she calls in her commentary “displaced autobiography’” or “creative non-fiction.” Lastly, an extensive bibliography on the postcolonial short story opens up further possibilities for research.




The Bloomsbury Handbook to Ageing in Contemporary Literature and Film


Book Description

Across more than 30 chapters spanning migration, queerness, and climate change, this handbook captures how the interdisciplinary and intersectional endeavor of Age(ing) studies has shaped contemporary literary and film studies. In the early 21st century, the literary study of age and ageing in its cultural context has 'come of age': it has come to supplement and challenge a public discourse on ageing seen mainly as a political and demographic 'problem' in many countries of the world. Following a tripartite structure, it looks first at literary and film genres and how they have been shaped by knowledge about age and ageing, incorporating both narrative genres as well as poetry, drama and imagery. The second section includes chapters on key themes and concepts in Age(ing) Studies with examples from film and literature. The third section brings together case studies focussing on individual artists, national traditions and global ageing. Containing original contributions by pioneers in the field as well as new scholars from across the globe, it brings together current scholarship on ageing in literary and film studies, and offers new directions and perspectives.




A Cretical Study of Novels and stories in English in India and Abroad


Book Description

This book is expected to be of great help to students and teachers in studying English literature especially in fiction and non-fiction writings Indian and African American literature. It deals with several ideologies and theories in order to evaluate the chosen authors in English.




The Thought of Nirad C. Chaudhuri


Book Description

A critical examination of the famous South Asian writer Nirad C. Chaudhuri (1897-1999), a notorious Anglophile and defender of empire. Ian Almond analyses Chaudhuri from the perspectives of Islam, the archive, melancholy and empire, exploring the evolution of his thought and the consequences this has for our understanding of 'cosmopolitan' intellectuals.




The Politics of Home


Book Description

"A groundbreaking move beyond the first generation of postcolonial criticism."—Nancy Armstrong, Brown University




Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English


Book Description

" ... Documents the history and development of [Post-colonial literatures in English, together with English and American literature] and includes original research relating to the literatures of some 50 countries and territories. In more than 1,600 entries written by more than 600 internationally recognized scholars, it explores the effect of the colonial and post-colonial experience on literatures in English worldwide.




Renuka


Book Description

The Friendship Between Renuka, A Bengali Poet, And Rachel, An American Missionary, Lies At The Heart Of This Novel. Two Women From Entirely Different Backgrounds, They Share A Bond That Overcomes The Barriers Of Nationality, Race And Religion. Both Are Exiled To A Hill Station, Which Is Populated With Provincial And Prudish Memsahibs, Who Adjust Their Recipes To Compensate For The Altitude And Substitute Ingredients From Home. While Rachel S Husband Works At A Psychiatric Hospital In The Plains, In Ranchi, She Looks After Their Sons Who Attend A Mission School In The Hills. While Editing A Cookbook, Rachel Begins To Realize The Contradictions Within Her Community. She Also Discovers The Seductive Voice Of Renuka S Poetry& Renuka, Stephen Alter S Fourth Novel, Builds To A Startling Climax, While Uncovering Hidden Truths About Love, Sexuality And Passion. In Renuka, Alter Has Drawn A Remarkable Portrait Of A Totally Credible Woman& He Captures Exactly The Love-Hate Attitudes Of Westerners Who Spend Time In The Subcontinent&A Rare Achievement To Use A Simple Framework So Effectively Sarah Curtis, Times Literary Supplement Renuka Is A Most Accomplished, Utterly Convincing Study Of Two Women Of Different Backgrounds And Contrasting Temperaments&The Book Rises To A Moving Climax, Followed By An Adagio Of Lingering Sadness Like The Aftermath Of A Disturbing Dream &By Far [Alter S] Best John Mellors Books By Stephen Alter Renuka Neglected Lives Amritsar To Lahore: Crossing The Border Between India And Pakistan All The Way To Heaven: An American Boyhood In The Himalayas Sacred Waters: A Pilgrimage To The Many Sources Of The Ganga Elephas Maximus: A Portrait Of The Indian Elephant Fantasies Of A Bollywood Love Thief: Inside The World Of Indian Moviemaking The Penguin Book Of Modern Indian Short Stories (Co-Edited) Hill Stations Are Not As Sleepy And Tranquil As They Might Seem& You Will Discover Forbidden Love And Intrigue In The Most Unlikely Places. Kipling S Mrs Hawksbee And Her Simla Crowd Would Have Approved! Ruskin Bond




The Stepmother Tongue


Book Description

There are numerous twentieth century writers in English who are not technically native speakers of the language, and whose relation to it is ambivalent, problematic or even hostile: by a simple kinship analogy one may often speak of the 'stepmother tongue'. Whilst fully aware of the current debates in postcolonial theory, John Skinner is also conscious of its sometimes unhelpful complexities and contradictions. The focus of this study is thus firmly on the fictional practice of the writers discussed. He offers the reader an insight into the diversity and rewards of contemporary anglophone fiction, whilst analysing some eighty individual texts. A uniquely comprehensive guide, the book will be welcomed by students and teachers of postcolonial literature.




All the Way To Heaven


Book Description

A Loving Tribute To A Unique Upbringing When Stephen Alter Is Asked The Simple Question Where Are You From, Originally? He Hesitates. Although He Is In Almost Every Way An American-Granted With A Trace Of British Accent-He Has An Unexpected Reply: My Real Home Was In India, A Hill Station Called Mussoorie, Seven And A Half Thousand Feet Up The Himalayas. That Was Where I Was Born And Raised, In A Section Known As Landour... It Is A Landscape, And A Time, That Haunts Him Still: I Miss The Place Itself; The Mountains, The View Of The High Himalayas Beyond Mussoorie, Stretching All The Way To Heaven. The Son And Grandson Of Presbytarian Missionaries Living In India For More Than Half A Century, Every Day Alter Straddled The Profound Boundary Between Utterly Different Peoples, Cultures, Languages And Religions. He And His Brothers Spoke A Pidgin Dialect Of Hindustani And English As Young Boys, Fished In The Rivers Song, Ganga And The Jumna, And Later Hunted For Barking Deer And Ghoral In The Steep Foothills Of The Mountains Always Looming Behind Them. They Studied American History But Knew More About India'S Recent Independence From England. In All The Way To Heaven, Alter Writes Affectionately Of His Family, His Indian Friends And His Memories Exotic And Mundane.