Myths of the Nation - National Identity and Literary Representation

Zusatztext As both a single-author study and an analysis of the dilemmas and aspirations of twentieth-century India, Sethi's book makes compelling reading Informationen zum Autor Rumina Sethi is a British Academy Research Fellow at Wolfson College, University of Oxford, and has written widely on Postcolonial Cultural Studies. Klappentext This book focuses on the construction of forms of historical consciousness in narratives, or schools of narrative. The study seeks to underscore what goes behind the writing of true' and authentic' histories by treating historical fiction as the literary dimension of nationalist ideology. It traces nationalism from its abstract underpinnings to its concrete manifestation in historical fiction which underwrites the Indian freedom struggle. Zusammenfassung Myths of the Nation focuses on the construction of forms of historical consciousness in narratives, or schools of narrative. The study seeks to underscore what goes behind the writing of `true' and `authentic' histories by treating historical fiction as the literary dimension of nationalist ideology. It traces nationalism from its abstract underpinnings to its concrete manifestation in historical fiction which underwrites the Indian freedom struggle. The construction of identity through mythicized conceptions of India is examined in detail through Raja Rao's first novel, Kanthapura. The key concept governing the subject is that of representation. Since the `fictional reality' of the nation is a much debated issue, the study examines how history slides into fiction. The author shows how orientalist, nationalist, Marxist, subalternists, and poststructuralists, have all, in their own celebratory ways, used the disenfranchised sub-proletariat in their works. What she finds useful in poststructuralist practices, however, is that subaltern identities are imbued with heterogeneity, thus splitting open an authoritarian and reactionary nationalism, and a continuing neo-colonialism. Inhaltsverzeichnis Introduction: Narratives of Nationalism and the Politics of the Orient Part One 1: The Nativization of English 2: The Ideology of Gandhi: A Mass Fantasy Part Two 3: Peasant Uprisings and Fictional Strategies 4: Contesting Identities: Involvement and Resistance of Women Part Three 5: The Future of a Vision 6: Fixity and Resistance Bibliography ...

Product details

• Authors: Rumina Sethi, Rumina (British Academy Research Fellow Sethi, Sethi Rumina
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 10.06.1999
• EAN: 9780198183396
• ISBN: 978-0-19-818339-6
• No. of pages: 232
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Folklore & Mythology, Nationalism, HISTORY / Historiography, LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / Asian, LITERARY CRITICISM / Asian / Indic, India, American English, Historiography, Folklore, myths & legends, Literary studies: general, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Folklore studies / Study of myth (mythology), LITERARY CRITICISM / Novel as Form, Folklore studies / Study of myth