Table Of ContentGANDHI IN INDIA’S LITERARY
AND CULTURAL IMAGINATION
This book engages with the socio-cultural imaginings of Gandhi in literature, history, visual and
popular culture. It explores multiple iterations of his ideas, myths and philosophies, which have
inspired the work of filmmakers, playwrights, cartoonists and artists for generations.
Gandhi’s politics of non-violent resistance and satyagraha inspired various political leaders,
activists and movements and has been a subject of rigorous scholarly enquiry and theoretical
debates across the globe. Using diverse resources like novels, autobiographies, non-fictional
writings, comic books, memes, cartoons and cinema, this book traces the pervasiveness of the idea
of Gandhi which has been both idolized and lampooned. It explores his political ideas on themes
such as modernity and secularism, environmentalism, abstinence, self-sacrifice and political
freedom along with their diverse interpretations, caricatures, criticisms and appropriations to
arrive at an understanding of history, culture and society.
With contributions from scholars with diverse research interests, this book will be an essential
read for students and researchers of political philosophy, cultural studies, literature, Gandhi and
peace studies, political science and sociology.
Nishat Zaidi is Professor of English at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. A scholar, critic and
translator, she is the recipient of several prestigious grants and has conducted collaborative research
with the Centre for Indian Studies in Africa, University of Witwatersrand, SA, South Asia Institute,
Heidelberg University, Germany, and Michigan State University, USA. Her publications include
her monographs, Makers of Indian Literature: Agha Shahid Ali (2014), Ocean as Method: Thinking with
the Maritime (with Dilip Menon et al. 2022) and Terrains of Consciousness: Multilogical Perspectives
on Globalization (Wurzburg University Press, 2021, co-authored with Zeno Ackermann et al.)
and her translations and edited books, Day and Dastan (2018, with Alok Bhalla) and Between
Worlds: The Travels of Yusuf Khan Kambalposh (2014, with Mushirul Hasan), among others. Her
forthcoming work is Karbala: A Historical Play (translation of Premchand’s Play Karbala with a
critical introduction and notes) to be published in 2022.
Indrani Das Gupta is Assistant Professor in the Department of English, Maharaja Agrasen
College, University of Delhi, India. Currently pursuing her PhD from Department of English,
Jamia Millia Islamia, India, in the area of Indian Science Fiction. She is engaged in the examination
of the interface of science fictionality with the paradigms of nation state and the social variables
that constitute the ontological human existence. Her research interests include science fiction
studies, crime fiction, children and young adult narratives, utopia/dystopia, sports culture, popular
culture and postmodern narratives. She is the non-fiction editor of Mithila Review: An International
Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy.
GANDHI IN INDIA’S
LITERARY AND
CULTURAL IMAGINATION
Edited by
Nishat Zaidi and Indrani Das Gupta
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First published 2022
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-68887-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-70284-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-14547-9 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003145479
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by Apex CoVantage, LLC
CONTENTS
List of Figures viii
Notes on the Contributors x
Acknowledgements xiv
Introduction 1
Nishat Zaidi
PART I
Gandhi in Sonic and Visual Practices: Enunciations
of “Darsan” and Activism 17
1 Gandhi’s Image and Images of Gandhi: The Culture and
Politics of Visual Representation 19
Vinay Lal
2 Music for the Congregation: Assembling an Aesthetic
for Prayer 44
Lakshmi Subramanian
3 Visualizing Gandhi: The Icon and His People 51
Ruchika Wason Singh
vi Contents
PART II
Consumptions of Gandhi: Articulations or
Disarticulations? 71
4 Mahatma in Memescape: Making of Gandhi in
Participatory Digital Culture 73
Haris Qadeer
5 Mahatma in Antiphony: Gandhi in Indian Nationalist,
Muslim and British Press Cartoons, 1946–1947 90
Barnali Saha
6 Exploration of Indian Visual Practices From 1960 to 1970:
A Study of Indian Comic Books on Gandhi 109
Aparna Pathak
7 Gandhi, the New Divine: Gandhi Ethos in the Malayalam
Socials of 1950 and 1960s 122
M.H. Ilias
8 Framing Gandhi 137
Nishat Haider
PART III
The Construction of Self: Experimental Site of Praxis
and Its Discursive Limits 151
9 An Untouchable in Search of an Asketic Gandhi:
The Religiosity of Postcolonial Political 153
Dhritiman Chakraborty
10 Reformulation of Public–Private Dynamics in Bengali
Women’s Autobiographies: Exploring Gandhi and
Women’s Activism 168
Bhaswati Chatterjee
11 Examining Gandhi’s Disavowals and Re-thinking the
“Experiment” in The Story of My Experiments with Truth 182
Aishwarya Kumar
12 Gandhian Environmentalism and Its Limits: A Reading of
C. K. Janu’s “Autobiographical Testimonio” Mother Forest 195
P. Rajitha Venugopal
Contents vii
PART IV
Gandhian Presence in Intimate and Public Spheres:
Reflections on Corporeality, Ethicality and Society 209
13 The Missing/Divergent Inscription of the Gandhian Body:
Examining Corruption in Shrilal Shukla’s Raag Darbari 211
Indrani Das Gupta
14 Gandhi, Abstinence and Political Freedom: Reading Saadat
Hasan Manto’s “Swaraj Ke Liye” 226
Baran Farooqi and Disha Pokhriyal
15 Gandhi and Peasant Organizations in Colonial India: A
Reading of Satinath Bhaduri’s Dhorai Charit Manas 239
Bharti Arora
Index 256
FIGURES
1.1 Shanti Ke Devata; Mateshwari Kastur Bai 26
1.2 Rastra Ke Sutradhar: Mahatma Gandhi 27
1.3 Azaadi Ke Paigamber Ki Ghoshna 28
1.4 Bhagvan Ki Takli 29
1.5 Gandhi Ashram, Sabarmati 30
1.6 Arrest of Mahatma Gandhi 31
1.7 Satyagraha Yoga-Sadhan 32
1.8 Tyagamurti Pandit Motilal Nehru Ki Antim Yatra 33
1.9 Asahayoga Govardhan 34
1.10 Asahayoga Nauka Ke Teen Chatur Malaha 35
1.11 Ramayana Non-Cooperation Setu Bandhan 35
1.12 Dandi Mein Namak ki Loot 37
1.13 Bardali Vijaya 37
1.14 Destruction of Palm-Trees 38
1.15 Way to Swaraj 39
1.16 Sampatti Haran 39
1.17 Bharatuddhar 40
1.18 Krishna Gandhi Milan 41
3.1 Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Other Patriots Trying to Liberate
Mother India From Outside India 55
3.2 Post Card for Gandhi 60
3.3 Lamentation 61
3.4 Bapu at Rene Block Gallery, New York 61
3.5 Broken Branches 63
3.6 NAVU (We Together) 63
3.7 Shanti 65
4.1 Two Cheese Pizzas With a Liter of Root Beer 82
Figures ix
4.2 Food for Thought 83
5.1 Lady Congress and the Sacred Birds 92
5.2 Passive Resistance in Transvaal 93
5.3 The Mahatma Along With the Gods 95
5.4 Mahatma Gandhi in the Lap of Bharat Mata 96
5.5 The Hound of the Baskervilles 100
