This anthology of essays maps the divergent issues that have become relevant in contemporary Indian English poetry and drama. By providing a clear idea about the new themes, techniques and methods used by the Indian English poets and playwrights to address the issues emerging in the changing socio-cultural scenario, particularly during the post-globalization period, the essays offer insightful observations on canon formation and its reception. It is high time to consider afresh whether the canons of Indian English poetry and drama have widened their scope to include innovative forms of writing or whether they have evolved significantly to generate novel perspectives. These questions, which are linked with the issue of canon formation and its reception are intricately woven into the fabric of these essays. This anthology will respond to the scholarly interests of inquisitive students, research scholars and academics in the field of Indian English literature.

In this period of globalization, many individuals are trying to upgrade the life and for that most of them are now migrating to other lands. In the process of getting settle in new land they encounter many problems. The issue of migration and immigration brings forward the question of exile, identity, assimilation, memory, nostalgia, hopelessness, uprootedness, hybridity and so on. Indian writers have beautifully picked up experiences of such people and penned them down. Such writing is called ‘Diaspora Literature’, wherein immigrant experiences have been shared through literature. This type of literature includes expatriate stories, refugee chronicles and immigrant narratives. The present anthology Indian Diaspora Literature: A Critical Evaluation covers as many as twenty articles where the authors have discussed innumerable issues and challenges as confronted by Indian immigrants due to their distance and dislocation from their familiar homeland to the alien hostland, irrespective of what kind of exile they follow: forced or voluntary. Apart from bringing into surface the migratory problems, the anthology also sheds light on the complexities that arise out of such migration. Some of the notable Indian writers who have been given room in this book are V. S. Naipaul, Amitav Ghosh, Rohinton Mistry, Jhumpa Lahiri, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Anita Desai and Kiran Desai to name a few. Authors have tried to give their best outputs to reach this anthology to its intended goal. Hopefully this book will be helpful to both students and scholars alike.

Stereotypes result in deceptive generalizations about groups and are held in a manner that renders them as derogatory. As such, this volume advocates an active, goal-oriented effort in order to reduce prejudice through contact. Deconstructing the motivated ‘otherizing’ of the marginalized, the book offers an alternative reading of the representations of Indian body and desire, in both literature and media, that are often politically inscribed as ‘abnormal’ and ‘unnatural’ due to their non-conformity. Poststructural and postcolonial theories have argued that the body is a cultural construct rather than a natural entity. This argument is based on the assumption that there is no unalloyed body with any singular signification, but there are bodies onto which a multiplicity of meanings are inscribed and enforced. The responsibility of this ‘inscription’ lies with the agencies that hold power in a culture, and the infused meanings will consequently facilitate the ideologies of such agencies. In other words, the bodies of a certain culture are the ‘embodiment’ of the ideas of those who hold power in that culture. The corporality of the body, in this sense, is a cultural site in which the subtle political ideologies are deftly imposed, and, accordingly, ‘correct’ and ‘sanctioned’ desire is expected to germinate. Consequently, it may be argued that apparently unified or non-contradictory bodies of ‘normal’ desire should be suspected of having subtle hegemonic mechanisms in their formation. As a corollary to this, an investigation into such ‘abnormal’ bodies with ‘unnatural’ desires may have the effect of subverting such a power structure. Today’s world believes in de-stereotyped thinking and stereotyped living. Language has already been declared as a means more of camouflage than of revelation. As a result, there is a need to deconstruct the so-called ‘radical’ representations and expose the undercurrent of the norm. Otherization through stereotyping agencies and ideologies motivates racist, sexist and other de-humanizing positions and perspectives. This book, which is the outcome of the UGC-sponsored National Seminar organised by the Department of English at Southfield College, Darjeeling, is an endeavour to demystify the politics behind stereotyping, and to advocate the justification of de-stereotyping. As such, it represents a significant contribution to numerous disciplines including subaltern studies, women and gender studies, queer studies and minority discourse.

The present study aims to explore the relationships between nation and its myth to address larger issues of national, international and universal interests in the dramatic mechanism of Girish Karnad. Dramatics, in the hands of Karnad, uses myth to serve its real purpose of educating and entertaining the masses. As far the importance of myth for a nation is concerned, myth has been establishing its importance in every era and in every society. It frames a major part of national heritage. It constantly reminds us who we are, where we have come from and what future we are leading to. It sounds cautionary call about making wrong decisions with the help of mythological examples. It teaches the lessons and help people avoid a similar fate. The present study aims an investigation of searching role of myth in a scenario which witnesses swift changes in priorities. World today is obsessed with endless conflicts. Every nation brims with national pride. The evil of casteism, regionalism, religious fundamentalism, patriarchy and racism have placed many seen and unseen barricades in the way of national safety and integration. Myth, in such a scenario, comes forward to guide the masses with the wisdom and experiences of ages. It not only acts as a manifesto for the present social order but works as a demonstration pattern of ethical values, sociological order, and miraculous conviction also so that traditional values can be strengthened to the extent that these can accommodate the changing form of long-established concept of morality. Myth finds expression through various forms of art. Literature is one such form that makes us see beyond obvious and what the front door shows. It takes man to discover, inquire and construct new knowledge. Literature is a means to leap into the past through myth, history and legends. Literature, especially drama is such a form of art that reflects and expresses the inner sections of human mind in a better way. It depicts man, family, community, nation and world with all the possible tinges of truth. It not only affirms faith but can challenge long-held beliefs as well. It has been a strong medium to convey deeper meanings of life in its true and vivid colours.

In the present era, when all of human civilization is struggling to preserve their individualities as a result of global commercialism and totalitarianism, theatre and drama play a metonymic role in composing and shaping aspects of human existence. However, there is debate as to how much the text and the stage are able to play a significant role towards staging individual voices on the vast global platform. This book, a collection of twelve essays and two interviews from scholars across the world, explores the different perspectives of textuality and performance. The analytical mode of the plays analysed here reveals different possible directions of dramatic reading. It represents a comprehensive study of drama and theatre, and the contributions will serve as an asset for both undergraduate and graduate students. The indigenous perspectives (both in terms of theatre and drama) provided here push the reader beyond the prevailing clichéd drama and theatre studies.

Thomas Stearns Eliot, 1888-1965, English poet.