The book is a collection of 22 research papers/articles on the theme of gender from Indian English Writings. It is a critical study of the works of Shashi Deshpande, Anita Desai, Nayantara Sahgal, Krishna Sobti, Khushwant Singh, Bharati Mukherjee, Indira Goswami, Rama Mehta, Arundhati Roy, Kamala Das, Nissim Ezekiel, A. K. Ramanujan, Manju Kapur and Shobha De. The roots of gender discrimination stem from the patriarchal hegemony of our society. All forms of oppression, suppression, subjugation and exploitation of women have been projected through the analytical lenses by the erudite research-scholars and experts from the texts of Indian Writings in English.

The papers in this volume were presented at the 2008 Chotro Conference on Indigeneous Languages, Culture and Society, Jan 2008, Delhi. It forms Vol.I of a 2-volume collection. The papers in this collection analyse the history and contemporary situation of indigenous peoples from different parts of the world. The focus is on language and literary and cultural expression. The authors examine issues ranging from the loss of languages and literary/cultural traditions, representation of indigenous peoples by `mainstream society, deprivations faced by them natural resources, education and civic facilities, and their history of colonization (including by the modern nation-state). But the papers also examine the creativity, knowledge systems and rich cultural traditions of indigenous peoples.

Narrating Nomadism provides an unflinching account of ethnic groups and nomadic communities across the world that were branded as ¿criminal¿ during colonial times. It explores the tragic effect of the new identity imposed on them, the traumatic survival of these communities and cultures, and the creative expression of this experience in their arts and literature in the form of resistance. Presenting specific contexts and locations of cultural devastation in history, the volume traces colonial social imagination as such, showing how the grossly misperceived non-sedentary communities in the colonies were subjected to the mission of ¿settling¿ them. The essays presented here document these alternative histories from perspectives ranging from literary criticism and art history to ethnography and socio-linguistics, highlighting in what ways different nomadic communities negotiate discrimination and challenge in contemporary times, while finding remarkable convergence in their local histories and collective testimonies. This anthology opens up a new area in postcolonial studies as well as cultural anthropology by bringing the viewpoint of marginalized communities and their cultural rights to bear upon history, society and culture. It places an activist¿s ¿view from below¿ at the centre of literary interpretation, engages with oral history more substantially than folklore studies usually do, and brings together several historical narratives hitherto unexplored. This will be essential for students of anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, history, linguistics, post-colonial studies, literature and tribal studies, as well as the general reader.

In Indian context.

This volume traces the theme of the loss of language and culture in numerous post-colonial contexts. It establishes that the aphasia imposed on the indigenous is but a visible symptom of a deeper malaise — the mismatch between the symbiotic relation nurtured by the indigenous with their environment and the idea of development put before them as their future. The essays here show how the cultures and the imaginative expressions of indigenous communities all over the world are undergoing a phase of rapid depletion. They unravel the indifference of market forces to diversity and that of the states, unwilling to protect and safeguard these marginalized communities. This book will be useful to scholars and researchers of cultural and literary studies, linguistics, sociology and social anthropology, as well as tribal and indigenous studies.

Performing Identities brings together essays by scholars, artists and activists engaged in understanding and conserving rapidly disappearing local knowledge forms of indigenous communities across continents. It depicts the imaginative transactions evident in the interface of identity and cultural transformation, raising the issue of cultural rights of these otherwise marginalized communities.