{"product_id":"fantasy-and-the-politics-of-subversion-speculative-writing-in-colonial-india-9781350401396","title":"Fantasy and the Politics of Subversion: Speculative Writing in Colonial India","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFocusing on a corpus of fantasy texts written in colonial India during the late 19th and early 20th century, this book explores the origins, motivations, nature, and role of fantasy and speculative writing during a period of tremendous social and political churning.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTaking stock of Bengali texts often marginalized as children's literature or deemed unworthy of serious critical attention, Mayurika Chakravorty examines the works of authors such as \u003ci\u003eSanjibchandra Chattopadhyay\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eTrailokyanath Mukhopadhyay\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eParashuram (Rajshekhar Basu)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eAbanindranath Tagore\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSukumar Ray\u003c\/i\u003e to shed light on how their writing offered stringent commentaries on the colonial situation whilst grappling with larger questions around science, progress, environment, social hierarchies, ethics, and morality.\u003cbr\u003eWith a focus on how key authors and their works-largely omitted from the established canon-were influenced by diverse cultural streams from \u003ci\u003eEuropean\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003ePersian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eclassical Sanskrit\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003elocal folk traditions\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFantasy and the Politics of Subversion\u003c\/i\u003e explores how these texts challenged dominant tropes and conventions while subverting authority, both literary and political.\u003cbr\u003eIn highlighting overlooked writing within Indian literary history, fantasy and children's literature studies, Chakravorty demonstrates that, in understanding these works in relation to one another, they provide evidence of compelling bodies of work produced in the context of, and in resistance to, the empire.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMayurika Chakravorty\u003c\/b\u003e is Assistant Professor in the Department of English and the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies (Childhood and Youth Studies program), Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. She was a Felix doctoral scholar and holds a Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, UK. She was a visiting scholar at the Centre for Research in Children's Literature at Cambridge for the Easter Term, 2024. She researches and writes on fantasy and speculative literature; children's literature; and the representation of childhood and girlhood in literature and media.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52057899467026,"sku":"9781350401396","price":115.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_039f45a4-a4e7-4255-8567-08028937ddb0.jpg?v=1772015360","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/fantasy-and-the-politics-of-subversion-speculative-writing-in-colonial-india-9781350401396","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}