CROSSING BORDERS: Post 1980 Subcontinental Writing in English

“Crossing Borders: Post 1980 Subcontinental Writing” in English explores the travelling of cultures, ideas and peoples across geographic and generic borders. It is amazing the kinds of borders that hedge us in, some of which we construct and even cross, at times without realizing that the ‘will’ is actively involved. There is both the pain of separation and the joy of discovery. There is a degree of radicalism associated with every transgressive act even as it forges new connections.

This volume takes up a host of issues ranging from migrations of peoples and histories, crossing of linguistic, generic and disciplinary borders, to nostalgia, pain, loss of faith and its recovery. It goes on to discuss violence, terrorism and networkings that fail to be contained by the nation state. Issues of gender heterogeneities, alternative subjectivities, emerging visibility of the third gender, and institutional breakdowns are also explored.

Reputed authors and well-known scholars like Nayantara Sahgal, Jean Arasanayagam, Suniti Namjoshi, Keki Daruwalla, E.V. Ramakrishnan, Usha Bande, Sudha Shastri, Savyasaachi Jain, Shyamala Narayan, Purabi Panwar and Jasbir Jain are some of the contributors, who place the theme under different scanners creating space for further crossings.

Jasbir Jain, formerly of the University of Rajasthan, is a well-known critic and writer. Jain has worked in the field of Comparative Studies and has been a K.K. Birla Fellow. Her wide-ranging interests include an involved engagement with ideas and ideologies as they relate to the creative process. Amongst her latest publications are “Beyond Postcolonialism: Dreams and Realities of a Nation” (2007) and “Films, Literature and Culture: Deepa Mehta’s Elements Trilogy” (2007).