TRANSREGIONAL INDIAN DIASPORAS: New Literary and Cultural Representations

Of late, consistent publication of books on Bengali, Tamil, Odia, Malayali diaspora both in the vernacular languages and in English prove that many Indian diasporians, like Jhumpa Lahiri, are celebrating their regional, ethnic and linguistic identities through different cultural representations in diaspora while accepting the transnational character of their everyday living experiences. The transregional diasporas are, in fact, a prime example of the intersectionality that Avtar Brah identifies as a key feature of contemporary diaspora. This book attempts to assess the current trajectory of Indian diasporic literature and culture vis-à-vis a new concept of transregionalism. Angshuman Kar is Professor of English, Director, Centre for Australian Studies and former Head, Department of English and Culture Studies, The University of Burdwan, India. He has also served the Sahitya Akademi as the Secretary of the Eastern Region. He is the holder of Australia-India Council Fellowship and also the recipient of Distinguished Visitorship of Australian National University. Kar’s books include Climate Change and Cultural Representations: Australian and Indian Perspectives, Partition Memoirs from Two Bengals, Reception of Indian Diaspora in India, The Politics of Social Exclusion in India: Democracy at the Crossroads and Contemporary Indian Diaspora: Literary and Cultural Representations. Kar has completed a UGC-sponsored Major Research Project on Indian Diasporic Fiction and an Australia-India Council project designed for translating Australian Aboriginal poetry into Bengali. As a poet he has received several prestigious awards and read poems in festivals held in the USA, Germany, Scotland and Bangladesh. Partha Sarathi Mandal is an Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of English, Manbhum Mahavidyalaya, Manbazar, Purulia. His areas of interest are Contemporary Literary Theory, Indian Diaspora and Indian Aesthetics, Dalit Literature and Australian Literature. He has published a number of research papers in various reputed journals. He takes keen interest in creative writing as well.