Forms of the Left in Postcolonial South Asia: Aesthetics, Networks and Connected Histories (Critical Perspectives in South Asian History)

This book explores the aesthetic forms of the political left across the borders of post-colonial, post-partition South Asia. Spanning India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the contributors study art, film, literature, poetry and cultural discourse to illuminate the ways in which political commitment has been given aesthetic form and artistic value by artists and by cultural and political activists in postcolonial South Asia. With a focused conceptualization this volume asks: Does the political left in South Asia have a recognizable aesthetic form? And if so, what political effects do left-wing artistic movements and aesthetic artefacts have in shaping movements against inequality and injustice? Reframing political aesthetics within a postcolonial and decolonised framework, the contributors detail the trajectories and transformations of left-wing cultural formations and affiliations and focus on connections and continuities across post-1947/8 India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Contents Illustrations Contributors Introduction: Forms of the left in postcolonial South Asia Histories in formation Form Contemporary articulations Chapter 1: A melancholic archive: Chittaprosad and socialist art in postcolonial India* A melancholic archive Dialectical affiliations: Art and the party ‘Bhejal itihash-er desh-e’: In the shadows of Nehruvian India Home and the world: Internationalism and stasis Socialist story-worlds Confessions: Testimony and testimonial Afterword: Memory/montage/manoeuvres Chapter 2: Kagmari Festival, 1957: Political aesthetics and subaltern internationalism in Pakistan Desher Dak: We are the 95 per cent The upside-down village: Infrastructure, aesthetics and labour The hybrid mela Subaltern politics of joy: Gates, arts and lectures The foreign policy bahas Conclusion Chapter 3: Between neorealism and humanism: Jago Hua Savera Plot summary of Jago Hua Savera Jago Hua Savera: Style and reception Realism in South Asian cinema before 1952 Neorealism in Indian cinema after 1952 Form and style in Italian neorealism Jago Hua Savera and La Terra Trema Humanism in Jago Hua Savera Songs in Jago Hua Savera Language and the limits of humanism Closing thoughts Appendix A Excerpts from the Jago Hua Savera booklet Chapter 4: Lotus roots: Transposing a political-aesthetic agenda from South Asia to Afro-Asia Introduction From PWA to AAWA The Lotus agenda The art of Lotus Tradition and modernity Conclusion Chapter 5: What got ‘left’ behind: The limits of leftist engagements with art and culture in postcolonial Sri Lanka Introduction A brief history of leftist politics in Sri Lanka Sinhala cultural production in the 1950s: Social justice, authenticity and nationalism Martin Wickramasinghe – nationalist authenticity and social justice Ediriweera Sarachchandra: The longing for national form Gunadasa Amarasekara: Fusing Sinhala nationalism and leftist social transformation The early avant-garde left What is left? Concluding thoughts on the forms of the left in Sri Lankan cultural discourse Chapter 6: The conscience whipper: Alamgir Kabir’s film criticism and the political velocity of the cinema in 1960s East Pakistan Artists, cinema and the left in East Pakistan Alamgir Kabir: The conscience whipper Conclusion Chapter 7: Look back in angst: Akaler Sandhaney, the Indian New Wave and the afterlife of the IPTA movement Introduction Situating the Indian New Wave Akaler Sandhaney: In search of ‘the enemy within’ The ambivalence of auto-critique Fantasies of subaltern spectatorship Afterword Bibliography Index "This book explores aesthetic forms of the left to negotiate the political frontiers of post-colonial, post-partition South Asia. Spanning India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the contributors study art, film and literature to illuminate interconnections across regions and countries, and discuss the shifting political contours of the region during the latter half of the 20th century. With a clear focus and conceptualization this volume raises two key questions; how left-wing art generated cultural and social formations, and how aesthetic forms held political value across the region. Reframing political aesthetics within a postcolonial and decolonised framework, it traces the trajectories and nuances the left-wing cultural movement took during decolonization, and focuses on connections and continuities across post-1947 India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Following the evolution of progressive culture in the 1950s and 60s, networks of leftist filmmakers and theatre activists in postcolonial Pakistan, and the changing fate of left cultural politics in Sri Lanka and India during the 1970s, this book looks to reinvigorate the entangled histories of the left cultural movement in post-partition South Asia"-- Provided by publisher A Melancholic Archive: Chittaprosad and Socialist Art in Postcolonial India / Sanjukta Sunderason -- Kagmari Festival, 1957: Political Aesthetics and Subaltern Internationalism in Pakistan / Layli Uddin -- Between Neorealism and Humanism: Jago Hua Savera / Iftikhar Dadi -- Lotus Roots: Transposing a Political-Aesthetic Agenda from South Asia to Afro-Asia / Maia Ramnath -- What got "left" behind: The limits of Leftist Engagements with Art and Culture in Post-colonial Sri Lanka / Harshana Rambukwella -- The Conscience Whipper: Alamgir Kabir's Film Criticism and the Political Velocity of the Cinema in 1960s East Pakistan / Lotte Hoek -- Look Back in Angst: Akaler Sandhaney, the Indian New Wave, and the Afterlife of the IPTA Movement / Manishita Dass -- Afterword / Kamran Asdar Ali