MAPPING SOUTH ASIAN DIASPORA: Recent Responses and Ruminations

Book Details

• Publisher: Rawat Publications

• Editors: Ajay K. Chaubey and Asis De

• Language: English

• Edition: 2018

• ISBN: 9788131609019

• Pages: 320

• Cover: Hardcover

About the Book
This anthology represents a significant academic contribution to the expanding field of diaspora criticism, exploring the complexities and evolving trends within South Asian diasporic literature. The book presents critical essays from scholars across India and abroad, who have rigorously examined the works of both young and established South Asian writers. These essays engage with a range of literary theories, offering in-depth analyses of diasporic overtones, inter-ethnic relations, dislocation, and the merging of physical and mental boundaries in literature.

The collection is divided into four sections. Section A offers new insights into the South Asian diaspora, including a conversation with Vijay Mishra. Section B delves into South Asian diasporic literatures, focusing on themes such as inter-ethnic relations, the complexities of borders, and the sense of home and belonging in the works of writers like Amitav Ghosh, Salman Rushdie, and Hanif Kureishi. Section C features conversations and discussions with well-known writers and critics, offering readers a deeper understanding of the evolving discourse in diaspora studies. Finally, Section D provides interdisciplinary responses to the diaspora, exploring the experiences of Nepali migrants, Bhutanese refugees, and other diasporic communities in various global contexts.

This volume serves as an essential tool for anyone studying the dynamics of diaspora, transnationalism, and postcolonial identity, and it aims to promote a more holistic understanding of the phenomenon.

Contents
Section A: Diaspora in Flux: Newer Insights

• Transforming Continuum of South Asian Diaspora: In Conversation with Vijay Mishra / Asis De

Section B: Considering Diasporic Literatures of South Asia: Texts and Contexts

1. What Diaspora? Whither Diaspora?: Some Random Questions, Answers and Ruminations / Somdatta Mandal

2. South Asians in North America: Inter-Ethnic Reflections for the New Millennium / Amritjit Singh

3. Mentally Disturbed, Physically Unseen: The ‘Secret’ Lives of British Asians in Fiction and Autobiography / Nilakshi Roy

4. Of Forgotten Remembrances: Memories of the Passive Bangalee Bhadrolok: A Study of Dislocation in Black Ice, The Shadow Lines, and The Good Muslim / Aatreyee Ghosh

5. Interrogating Borders in Amitav Ghosh’s The Shadow Lines and The Hungry Tide / Sharmistha De Dutta

6. Crossing Boundaries in a Postcolonial Context: A Tale of Two Characters in Vikram Chandra’s Red Earth and Pouring Rain / Sulagna Mohanty and Amrita Satapathy

7. Positional Shifts in Postcolonial Literature: Comparison of Salman Rushdie and Rohinton Mistry’s Select Fiction / Ajay Verma

8. Histories of Post-Diaspora: Neocultural Prototyping in Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia and The Black Album / Subashish Bhattacharjee and G.N. Roy

9. Of Diaspora and Native Literatures: Reading Benyamin’s Goat Days / Rositta Joseph Valiyamattam

10. Michael Ondaatje’s The Cat’s Table: A Study of Diasporic Overtones / Arifa Yesmin

11. Home No/w/here: A Study of Diasporic Dilemma in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner / Raj Gaurav Verma

Section C: Conversations and Discussions

• In Conversations with Writers: Tabish Khair in Conversation with Ajay K. Chaubey

• In Conversations with Writers: M.G. Vassanji in Conversation with Murali Kamma

• In Discussions with Critics: Somdatta Mandal, Makarand Paranjape, and Manjit Inder Singh in Discussion with Ajay K. Chaubey

Section D: South Asian Diaspora: Interdisciplinary Responses
12. One Nation, Two Diasporas: Nepali Migrants and Bhutanese Refugees in the United States / Lopita Nath
13. Reconfiguring ‘Asian Australian’ Writing: Australia, India, and Inez Baranay / Paul Sharrad
14. The Bhutanese Diaspora: A View on History / Alice Anna Verheij
15. Searching for Home: Explorations in New Media and the Burmese Diaspora in New Zealand / Violet Cho

About the Author / Editor
Ajay K. Chaubey is an Assistant Professor (English) at the Department of Sciences & Humanities, National Institute of Technology, Uttarakhand. His published works include South Asian Diasporic Cinema, V.S. Naipaul, and Salman Rushdie. He has written extensively in journals and anthologies of national and international repute.

Asis De is an Associate Professor of English and Head, Department of English Language and Literature at Mahishadal Raj College, West Bengal. His research interests include the study of identity negotiation in diasporic and postcolonial Anglophone fiction, with a focus on South Asian, African, and Caribbean literatures.