Salman Rushdie and Indian historiography : writing the nation into being

Paying particular attention to the representation of women and to gendered notions of the nation, this book examines for the first time the marked parallels between Rushdie's critique of the Nehruvian legacy and the most significant recent trends in Indian historiography, especially the feminist and subalternist movements. "This book explores the depiction of Indian history in Salman Rushdie's novels in relation to the way in which Indian history is narrativised in modern Indian historiography. The central argument is that Rushdie's conception of India is framed within the parameters of nationalist discourse and nationalist historiography, and that it was inspired in particular by the political and historical writings of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. The book explores for the first time the marked parallels between Rushdie's critique of the Nehruvian legacy and the most significant recent trends in Indian historiography, specifically the feminist and subalternist movements. Particular attention is paid to the representation of women and to gendered notions of the nation, such as the concept of Mother India. Drawing on the theoretical work of Mikhail Bakhtin, this book proposes that Rushdie advocates a democratic, 'novelistic' intersubjectivity as a basis for a new imagining of India."--BOOK JACKET Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 9 Introduction......Page 10 Indian historiography and the nation......Page 15 1 A Biography of the Nation......Page 25 Imagining a nation......Page 26 The mirror of the nation......Page 35 Indira is India......Page 52 2 Wives, Widows, and Witches......Page 65 The nation’s script for its middle-class wives......Page 66 The nation at the mercy of its monstrous women......Page 77 The wicked witch of the East......Page 85 3 The New God-and-Mammon India......Page 97 Nationalist élite India......Page 100 Hindu nationalist India......Page 111 Palimpsest India......Page 118 4 Mother India......Page 131 Sacralising the motherland......Page 132 Envisaging the nation in the image of the Mother......Page 146 Corrupting hegemonic images of Bharat Mata......Page 158 5 The Idea of a Hybrid India......Page 167 Macaulay’s minutemen......Page 171 The novelistic nation......Page 181 Notes......Page 209 Bibliography......Page 222 K......Page 234 Z......Page 235