Asian Studies 211MA - Modern Indian/SAsian Writers

Writing in South Asian languages (e.g., Hindi, Tamil) and English, modern Indian and South Asian writers, both women and men, have responded to colonialism, nationalism and the partition of India, and spoken for social and gender justice. They have imagined ways of being a person and belonging in and emerging from South Asia, in modernity, in families, nations and the world. We will examine these themes and study style and form in the novels, short stories and essays of major writers, including Rabindranath Tagore, R. K. Narayan, Anita Desai, Mahadevi Varma, Mahasweta Devi, Arundhati Roy, Daniyal Mueenuddin, Vikram Chandra and Jhumpa Lahiri. All readings in English.