WRITER AS CRITIC: Essays in Literature, History & Culture

The Writer as Critic travels over more than a century and a half to trace the development of indigenous theoretical concerns and the intellectual engagement of writers with the major issues of their times. They address issues of language, social reform, narrotology, reality and realistic presentation, as they seek to define their positions. Both time and space come in for philosophical reflection, as does the concept of the self.

Many of the essays included in the present selection have been translated from Indian languages and some of these for the first time. Manifestos, prefaces, autobiographical extracts, fictional representations of history form a part of this collection in order to capture the intensity of experience. The felt anguish of dislocation as well as the political and philosophical aspects of belonging connect up with theories of exile, the refugee and the immigrant and produce a counter discourse as cultural theories of time and space are explored.

Together the essays, ranging from Derozio to Garg, enable the tracing of Indian literary and theoretical history and the relocation and interpretation of literary movements.

Jasbir Jain is the Honorary Director of the Institute for Research in Interdisciplinary Studies (IRIS), Jaipur. She was Sahitya Akademi Writer-in-Residence (2009), and Emeritus Fellow (2001-2003) both at the University of Rajasthan. Recipient of the SALA Award (2008) and of IACS Award (2003), Jain is deeply interested in indigenous narrative strategies and theoretical positions. A former K.K. Birla Fellow, she has also published in Punjabi and has translated from Punjabi into English. Series Editor of Writers of the Indian Diaspora, currently she is engaged in theorising Diaspora Studies.