Violent Belongings: Partition, Gender, and National Culture in Postcolonial India

The 1947 Partition of India resulted in the death of two million people and the displacement of sixteen million more. It continues to haunt contemporary life in India - not only for discourses that debate the place of religion in India, but also for the historical interpretation of justice and minority belonging, and for the tension-ridden struggle over the production of secular national culture in the subcontinent. "Violent Belongings" is about the relation between culture and violence in the modern world, exploring contemporary ethnic and gendered violence, and the questions about belonging that trouble nations and nationalisms today. Daiya examines South Asian ethnic violence and related mass migration in and after 1947 through its representation in postcolonial Indian and, more broadly, global South Asian literature and culture, investigating such texts as Salman Rushdie's "Shalimar the Clown" and Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Interpreter of Maladies" and the writings of Mahatma Gandhi, as well as Bollywood cinema and films like Deepa Mehta's "Earth". Focusing on the historical and contemporary narration of the Partition of India, "Violent Belongings" examines transnational South Asian culture from 1947 onwards. Spanning the Indian subcontinent and its diasporas in the United Kingdom and the United States, it asks how postcolonial/diasporic literature (eg., Rushdie, Mistry, Sidwa and Lahiri), Bollywood film, personal testimonies and journalism represent the violence, migration and questions of national belonging unleashed by that pivotal event during which two million people died and sixteen million were displaced. In addition to challenging the official narratives of independence and Partition, these narratives challenge our contemporarya understanding of gender and ethnicity in history and politics. "Violent Belongings "argues that both male and female bodies, and heterosexual coupledom, became symbols of the nation in public life.a In the newly independent Indian nation both men and women were transformed into ideal citizens or troubling bodies, immigrants or refugees, depending on whether they were ethnically Hindu, Muslim, Jewish or Sikh. The divisions set in motion during Partition continue into our own time and account for ethnic violence in South Asia. Violent Belongings Is About The Relation Between Culture And Violence In The Modern World, Exploring Contemporary Ethnic And Gendered Violence, And The Questions About Belonging That Trouble Nations And Nationalisms Today. Kavita Daiya Examines South Asian Ethnic Violence And Related Mass Migration In And After 1947 Through Its Representation In Postcolonial Indian And, More Broadly, Global South Asian Literature And Culture.--jacket. Train To Pakistan 2007: Decolonization, Partition, And Identity In The Transnational Public Sphere -- Re-gendering The Nation: Masculinity, Romance, And Secular Citizenship -- A Crisis Made Flesh: Women, Honor, And National Coupledom -- We Were Never Refugees: Migrants And Citizens In The Postcolonial State -- War And Peace: Pakistan And Ethnic Citizenship In Bollywood Cinema -- Provincializing The Nation: State Violence And Transnational Belongings In The Diaspora. Kavita Daiya. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [241]-252) And Index. Front Cover......Page 1 Copywright......Page 5 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 1. Train to Pakistan 2007: Decolonization, Partition, and Identity in the Transnational Public Sphere......Page 14 2. Re-Gendering the Nation: Masculinity, Romance, and Secular Citizenship......Page 44 3. “A Crisis Made Flesh”: Women, Honor, and National Coupledom......Page 78 4. “We Were Never Refugees”: Migrants and Citizens in the Postcolonial State......Page 115 5. War and Peace: Pakistan and Ethnic Citizenship in Bollywood Cinema......Page 163 6. Provincializing the Nation: State Violence and Transnational Belongings in the Diaspora......Page 198 Conclusion......Page 225 Notes......Page 230 Bibliography......Page 254 Index......Page 266