South Asian Studies Doctoral Seminar

This paper tries to analyze and critically reflect on the historical construction of knowledge which formed bases for South Asian area studies. It attempts to critically engage with the origin, development and trajectory of South Asian area studies knowledge bases by connecting with the “general intellectual discourse of the times”. The development of new Western scientific technique of area studies in the academic world has to see in the broader paradigm of the historical construction and development of social sciences since 19th century and the division of it into different disciplines which directly or indirectly influenced by western domination of the rest. The main crux of this paper includes to “problematize” archives of South Asian area studies knowledge to understand the roots of production in European – American universities to expose how the bodies of knowledge manufactured and normalized over 19th and 20th centuries which aided by Western intellectual and political domination of the rest. “Problematization” is a critical approach considering knowledge as a problem, criticizing the dominant patterns and structures of it. It involves critical approach to the legalizing and normalizing patterns of knowledge production and to expose the embedded power structures in the whole process. It is an attempt aimed at exposing the underlying power/knowledge factor in the construction, appropriation, acclimatization and transformation of knowledge bases of South Asian area studies.

This is the syllabus for SAST0735: South Asia in the World and the World in South Asia. I taught this interdisciplinary class at the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia as a Graduate Teaching Prize winner.

Theory and Praxis: Indian and Western Edited by R.N. Rai, M.S. Pandey and Anita Singh This book first published 2015 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2015 by R.N. Rai, M.S. Pandey, Anita Singh and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-7123-0 ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-7123-5 CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 R.N. Rai Chapter One............................................................................................... 24 Reader Response Theory and the Concept of Sahrdaya G.B. Mohan Thampi Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 35 Psychoanalytical Frameworks in the Utopian Impulse Daniel T Baker Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 42 The Nation as Goddess: Ritualizing Politics, Politicizing the Sacral Namrata R. Mahanta and Banibrata Mahanta Chapter Four.............................................................................................. 53 Postcolonialism and Strategies of Narration in India Awanish Rai Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 61 Contemporary Theory in the Postcolonial Third World Jai Singh Chapter Six ................................................................................................ 71 Locating Edward Said’s Politics of Liberation in Orientalism Ravi Kumar Kumbar Chapter Seven............................................................................................ 80 Suppressed Histories, Racial Conflicts and Postcolonial Disorder in A Bend in the River Prakash Chandra Pradhan vi Contents Chapter Eight........................................................................................... 104 Rescripting the Dominant, Essentialist Narrative on the Splitting of India: Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice Candy Man Nupur Palit Chapter Nine............................................................................................ 110 Bhagvadgita: A New Interpretation Damodar Thakur Chapter Ten ............................................................................................. 123 Androgyny and Postfeminism: Revisiting D. H. Lawrence Devender Kumar Chapter Eleven ........................................................................................ 140 Ecology and Feminism in India in Linda Hogan’s Power: An Ecofeminist Perspective R.D. Gholap Chapter Twelve ....................................................................................... 150 Exploring Animal Ethics in J.M. Coetzee’s The Lives of the Animals: A General Semantic Approach Dhriti Ray Dalai Chapter Thirteen...................................................................................... 160 Discourse of Otherness: Minority and Subaltern Perspectives in Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance Chitra Trivikraman Nair Chapter Fourteen ..................................................................................... 171 Gopinath Mohanty’s Paraja: A Subaltern Study Bhagabat Nayak Chapter Fifteen ........................................................................................ 189 Re-reading Ramayana: Exploring Sita in Sita Sings the Blues Aarttee Kaul Dhar Contributors............................................................................................. 200 About the Editors..................................................................................... 202

2015

Modern Indian studies have become a site for new, creative, and thought-provoking debates extending over a broad canvas of crucial issues. As a result of socio-political transformations, certain concepts such as Ahimsa, Caste, Darshan, and Race have taken on different meanings. Bringing together ideas, issues, and debates salient to modern Indian studies, this volume charts out the social, cultural, political, and economic processes at work in the subcontinent. Authored by internationally recognized experts, this work consists of over one hundred individual entries on concepts central to their respective fields of specialization, highlighting crucial issues and debates in a lucid and concise manner. Each concept is accompanied by a critical analysis of its trajectory and a succinct discussion of its significance in the academic arena as well as in the public sphere. Enhancing the shared framework of understanding about the Indian subcontinent, Key Concepts in Modern Indian Studies w...

2008

This paper explains the study of conducting a survey to assess the professional development needs of the teachers in schools affiliated with Aga Khan University-Examination Board (AKU-EB) with the aim of strategizing and designing teacher development programmes. An online survey was carried out with questions regarding the demographic information, teachers' current practices and their professional training needs. There were 306 teachers who participated in this survey from affiliated schools from the provinces of Sindh, Punjab, Gilgit Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The results show that teachers expressed a preference in using lecturing as the main teaching method and familiarity with relevant IT skills to perform their tasks to a large extent. They indicated a greater need for contentbased support, different classroom teaching methods, understanding the syllabus for lesson planning, and developing classroom assessments. Particularly, they emphasized a strong need for using technological resources to improve teaching and student learning. However, they were less interested in developing students' critical thinking and in teaching students how to learn.

The South Asian subcontinent is home to nearly a billion people and has been the site of fierce historical contestation. It is a panoply of languages and religions with a rich and complex history and culture. Drawing on the newest and most sophisticated historical research and scholarship in the field, Modern South Asia is written in an accessible style for all those with an intellectual curiosity about the region. After sketching the pre-modern history of the subcontinent, the book concentrates on the last three centuries from c. 1700 to the present. Jointly written by two leading Indian and Pakistani historians, it offers a rare depth of historical understanding of the politics, cultures and economies that shape the lives of more than a fifth of humanity. In this comprehensive study, the authors debate and challenge the striking developments in contemporary South Asian history and historical writing. The book provides new insights into the structure and ideology of the British raj, the meaning of subaltern resistance, the refashioning of social relations along lines of caste, class, community and gender, the different strands of anti-colonial nationalism and the dynamics of decolonization. This book is a work of synthesis and interpretation covering the entire spectrum of modern South Asian history-social, economic and political. The authors offer an understanding of the sophisticated historiography of this strategically and economically vital part of the world.

Voices on South Asia: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Women's Status, Challenges and Futures, 2020

Introduction chapter of the edited volume "Voices on South Asia: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Women's Status, Challenges and Futures"

2008