Responding to indigenous narratives in an interdisciplinary manner: M. Phil Course “Indigeneity in Literature and the Arts” & Recommended Reading – New Delhi

“Indigeneity in Literature and the Arts”
List of study materials provided by Course-Coordinator: Dr. Ivy Imogene Hansdak for M.Phil students at the Dept. of English, JMI, New Delhi

Select Primary Reading:

Ao, Temsula. These Hills Called Home: Stories from a War Zone. New Delhi: Zubaan & Penguin Books, 2006.

Bhaskaran, translated from the Malayalam original by N. Ravi Shankar. Mother Forest: The Unfinished Story of C.K. Janu. New Delhi: Kali for Women & Women Unlimited: 2004.

Bhatt, Avaneesh trans., documented by Dahyabhai Vadhu. The Ramayan and Other Oral Narratives of the Kunknas. Mysore: CIIL & BRPC, 2012.

Devi, Mahasweta, translated from the Bengali original by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Imaginary Maps. Calcutta: Thema, 2001.

—————-, translated from the Bengali original by Samik Bandopadhyay & Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Bashai Tudu. Kolkata: Thema, 2002.

Joshi, Arun. The Strange Case of Billy Biswas. Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1971.

Kire, Easterine. Bitter Wormwood. New Delhi: Zubaan. 2011.

Mohanty, Gopinath, translated from the Oriya original by Bikram K. Das. Paraja. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1987.

Narayan, translated from the Malayalam original by Catherine Thankamma. Kocharethi: The Araya Woman. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2011.

Reddy, Kesava, translated from the Telugu original by C.L.L. Jayaprada. He Conquered the Jungle (Athadu Adavini Jayinchadu). Chennai: Macmillan, 1998.

Shah, Nila trans., documented & edited by Bhagwandas Patel. Bharath: An Epic of the Dungri Bhils. Mysore: CIIL & BRPC, 2012.

——————. Rathor Varta: A Heroic Narrative of the Dungri Bhils. Mysore: CIIL & BRPC, 2012.

Tendulkar, Vijay, translated from the Marathi original by Priya Adarkar. Kamala. Marathi publ. 1982, English translation in Vijay Tendulkar, Five Plays. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2012. Adapted into Hindi film by Jagmohan Mundra, Kamla, 1985.

Recommended Secondary Reading:

Andersen, Peter B., Marine Carrin and Santosh K. Soren eds. and trans. From Fire Rain to Rebellion: Reasserting Ethnic Identity through Narrative. New Delhi: Manohar, 2011.

Carrin, Marine and Lidia Guzy eds. Voices from the Periphery: Subalternity and Empowerment in India. London, New York & New Delhi: Routledge, 2012.

Carrin, Marine and Harald Tambs-Lyche eds. People of the Jangal: Reformulating Identities and Adaptations in Crisis. New Delhi: Manohar, 2008.

Devy, G.N. ed. Painted Words: An Anthology of Tribal Literature. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2002. Reprinted Vadodara: Purva Prakash, 2012.

Devy, G.N., Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty eds. Indigeneity: Culture and Representation. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan Pvt. Ltd., 2009.

——————-. Voice and Memory: Indigenous Imagination and Expression. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2011.

——————. Narrating Nomadism: Tales of Recovery and Resistance. London, New York & New Delhi: Routledge, 2013.

——————. Performing Identities: Celebrating Indigeneity in the Arts. London, New York & New Delhi: Routledge, 2015.

Elwin, Verrier. The Tribal World of Verrier Elwin: An Autobiography. Oxford University Press, 1964. Reprinted New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Gupta, Sanjukta Das and Raj Sekhar Basu. Narratives from the Margins: Aspects of Adivasi History in India. New Delhi: Primus Books, 2012.

Guha, Ramachandra. Savaging the Civilized: Verrier Elwin, His Tribal World and India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Special Issue on “Chotro: Adivasi Voices and Stories”. Moving Worlds: A Journal of Transcultural Writings, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2009.

List of essays in Basic Reader for M.Phil course (in alphabetical order):

Borde, Radhika. 2012. ‘Did the Subaltern Speak?’, in Voices from the Periphery: Subalternity and Empowerment in India, edited by Marine Carrin and Lidia GuzyLondon. New York & New Delhi: Routledge.

Chakravarty, K.K. 2011. ‘Introduction’ to Voice and Memory: Indigenous Imagination and Expression, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan.

Chauhan, Vibha S. 2013. ‘Identity, History and Protest: CT/DNT in Literature and Social Texts in India’, in Narrating Nomadism: Tales of Recovery and Resistance, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. London, New York & New Delhi: Routledge.

Chellaperumal A. and Sujatha Vijayraghavan. 2011. ‘The Ethnopoetics of Irular Ballads’, in Voice and Memory: Indigenous Imagination and Expression, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan.

Deb, Nilanjana. 2009. ‘People-centric Histories of Indigenous Literature: Thoughts on Theory and Praxis’, in Indigeneity: Culture and Representation, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan.

Devi, Mahasweta. 2009. ‘Why I Write about Tribals’, in Moving Worlds: A Journal of Transcultural Writings, Vol. 9, No. 1.

G.N. Devy (ed.). 2002; reprinted 2012. Painted Words: An Anthology of Tribal Literature. New Delhi: Penguin Books; Reprinted Vadodara: Purva Prakash.

Dharavath, Mohan. 2013. ‘Experiential History vs Objective History: A Literary Study of Lambada Aphorisms’, in Narrating Nomadism: Tales of Recovery and Resistance, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. London, New York & New Delhi: Routledge.

Gupta, Ramnika. 2009. ‘Adivasi Literature: An Emerging Consciousness’, in Indigeneity: Culture and Representation, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan.

Guzy, Lidia. 2015. ‘Marginalized Music: A Case Study from Western Orissa/ India’, in Performing Identities: Celebrating Indigeneity in the Arts, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. London, New York & New Delhi: Routledge.

Hadders, Hans. 2008. ‘Marginal Mendicants: The Jadopatias of Bengal’, in People of the Jangal: Reformulating Identities and Adaptations in Crisis, edited by Marine Carrin and Harald Tambs-Lyche. New Delhi: Manohar.

Hansdak, Ivy Imogene. 2007. ‘The Nation and the Indian Tribes: A Diachronic View’, in Nation in Imagination: Essays on Nationalism, Sub-Nationalisms and Narration, edited by C. Vijayasree, Meenakshi Mukherjee, Harish Trivedi & T. Vijay Kumar. Hyderabad: Orient Longman.

John, Mini. 2015. ‘Magical Rhythms: Psycho-Sexual and Religious Significance of Tribal Dance’, in Performing Identities: Celebrating Indigeneity in the Arts, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. London, New York & New Delhi: Routledge.

Khubchandani, Lachman M. 2009. ‘Interculturality of Tradition and Modernity: Towards Understanding the Tribal Ethos’, in Indigeneity: Culture and Representation, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan.

Lawrence, Bonita and Enakshi Dua. 2011. ‘Understanding Indigenous Struggles: The Limitations of Postcolonial Theory’, in Voice and Memory: Indigenous Imagination and Expression, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan.

Mahanand, Anand. 2014. ‘Folklore as History: A Study of Myths of the Gondas of Western Odisha’, in Dalit Literature and Historiography, edited by Saroj Kumar Mahananda. New Delhi: Pragati Publications.

McLaren, Joseph. 2011. ‘Ngugi’s Indigenous Language Novels: Women and the National Cause’, in Voice and Memory: Indigenous Imagination and Expression, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan.

Narjinari, Esther S. 2013. ‘Narratives of Home: The Contemporary North-East Experience of (Un)belonging’, in Narrating Nomadism: Tales of Recovery and Resistance, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. London, New York & New Delhi: Routledge.

Prakash, Bodh. 2011. ‘Mahasweta Devi: A Creative Discourse’, in Voice and Memory: Indigenous Imagination and Expression, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan.

Rycroft, Daniel J. 2012. ‘From History to Heritage: Adivasi Identity and Hul Sengel’ , in Voices from the Periphery: Subalternity and Empowerment in India. edited by Marine Carrin and Lidia Guzy. London, New York & New Delhi: Routledge.

Rycroft, Daniel J. 2012. ‘Beyond Resistance: Idioms and Memories of Insurgency in the Adivasi Movement in Jharkhand’, Narratives from the Margins: Aspects of Adivasi History in India, edited by Sanjukta Das Gupta and Raj Sekhar Basu. New Delhi: Primus Books.

Sawhney, Rashmi. 2009. ‘Cinema and the Adivasis of India’, in Moving Worlds: A Journal of Transcultural Writings, Vol. 9, No. 1; Special Issue on “Chotro: Adivasi Voices and Stories”.

Sandten, Cecile. 2013. ‘Contemporary Nomads, or Can the Slum-dweller Speak?’, in Narrating Nomadism: Tales of Recovery and Resistance, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. London, New York & New Delhi: Routledge.

Sundar, Nandini. 2012. ‘Adivasi Politics and State Responses: Historical Processes and Contemporary Concerns’, in Narratives from the Margins: Aspects of Adivasi History in India, edited by Sanjukta Das Gupta and Raj Sekhar Basu. New Delhi: Primus Books.

Shah, Nila. 2009. ‘A Study of Contemporary Adivasi Literature of Jharkhand’, in Moving Worlds: A Journal of Transcultural Writings, Vol. 9, No. 1; Special Issue on “Chotro: Adivasi Voices and Stories”.

Visvanathan, Shiv. 2009. ‘Listening to the Pterodactyl’, in Indigeneity: Culture and Representation, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan.

Vogt-William, Christine. 2015. ‘‘Black Indian’ Women and Blood Rules: Hyphenated Hybridities on the Margins of America’, in Performing Identities: Celebrating Indigeneity in the Arts, edited by G.N. Devy, Geoffrey Davis and K.K. Chakravarty. London, New York & New Delhi: Routledge.

_______

Course Outline: This course derives from the aesthetic and literary theories introduced in the series of Chotro Conferences, jointly organized by the Bhasha Research and Publication Centre (BRPC), Vadodara, and the Indian Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies (IACLALS), New Delhi, in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012, and the publications that resulted from them. In brief, this course will engage in the study of indigenous expressions of creativity (in various forms) that are notable for their divergence from preconceived notions of history and culture. It will begin with G.N. Devy’s seminal definition of tribal imagination in his “Introduction” to Painted Words: An Anthology of Tribal Literature (2002), then trace the emergence and growth of “indigeneity” as a cultural research area in the Chotro Conferences. The students will be expected to respond to indigenous narratives in an interdisciplinary manner drawing upon literature, linguistics, language policy, history, sociology, media, film studies, theatre, music and visual arts.

Source: courtesy Dr Ivy I Hansdak*, Asst Prof, Dept of English, Jamia Millia Islamia
New Delhi (9 Augst 2016)

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