Cold War Genres - Local and International in Hindi Literature

Cold War Genres explores post-independence Hindi literature, framing it within the sociopolitical backdrop of Nehruvian India during the early Cold War. The book underscores the pivotal role of Hindi's claims to be a national language following independence, which fostered a unique moment of literary innovation. Central to its narrative is the work of Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh, a pivotal figure in modern South Asian literature. Using Muktibodh's poetry, criticism, and fiction as a primary example, the book shows how literary form shapes a response to the internal contradictions of 1950s India, one that must be read in light of both the antinomies of Hindi literature and North India as well as the aesthetic debates and emerging ideas of global space during this time. Cold War Genres therefore functions as a lens to evaluate questions of genre and form shared by a range of literary cultures in the mid-twentieth-century decolonizing world. This book features extensive translations from Muktibodh's poetry and prose, including full translations of two poems "Brahmar¿k¿as" (The Brahman Demon) and "A¿dhere me¿" (In the Dark).

About the author

Gregory Goulding is Assistant Professor in the Department of South Asia Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Product details

• Authors: Gregory Goulding
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.10.2024
• EAN: 9781438499598
• ISBN: 978-1-4384-9959-8
• No. of pages: 314
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 25 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > Other languages / Other literatures; LITERARY CRITICISM / Poetry, LITERARY CRITICISM / Comparative Literature, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 21st Century, Comparative Literature, LITERARY CRITICISM / Asian / Indic, India, Literary studies: poetry & poets, Literature: history & criticism, Literary studies: from c 1900 -, Asian History, Literature: history and criticism, Literary studies: poetry and poets, Literary studies: from c 2000, HISTORY / Asia / South / India