Description
Book SynopsisSecularism and the Crisis of Minority Identity in Postcolonial Literature examines how writers from religious and ethnic minority communities (Anglo-Indians, Burghers, Dalits, Muslims, and Parsis) in India and Sri Lanka engage secularism through novels, short stories, and autobiographies. Given the rise of Hindu nationalism in India and Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism in Sri Lanka, it would seem obvious that minorities would rally around secularism (the separation of church and state). However, this book argues that the relationship between minorities and secularism is extremely ambivalent. On the one hand, it shows how writers belonging to oppressed communities can deploy secularism as a mode of critique (secular criticism) to challenge the ideologies of dominant groupsthe nation, upper-castes, and religious hierarchies. On the other hand, it examines how these writers reveal that other aspects of secularism (secularization and secular time) are responsible for creating essentialized ide
Trade ReviewThis book makes a significant contribution to the study of how writers from minority groups such as the Burghers in Sri Lanka and the Muslims, Parsis, Anglo-Indians and Dalits in India engaged secularism. -- Maryse Jayasuriya, University of Texas at El Paso
Table of ContentsIntroduction: “Secularism and the Crisis of Minority Identity in Postcolonial Literature” Chapter 1: “Burgher Writing: Aesthetics as Resistance to Secular Time in Carl Muller’s and Michael Ondaatje’s Fiction” Chapter 2: “Muslim Writing: Secular Criticism in Saadat Hasan Manto’s and Ismat Cughtai’s Fiction” Chapter 3: “Parsi Writing: Developing a Fine Balance: Secularism, Religion, and Minority Politics in Rohinton Mistry’s Family Matters Chapter 4: “Anglo-Indian Writing: The Conundrum of Secular Nationalism in Frank Anthony’s and I. Allan Sealy’s Writing” Chapter 5: “Dalit Writing: Secular Catholicism and Feminist Critique in Bama’s Texts” Conclusion: “Secularism and Sites of Renewal”
