Partition and the South Asian Diaspora: Exploring (Inherited) Memories and Creative Practices of Remembering

Conceived at the unique, intersecting moment of commemoration of 1947 Partition of British India, 1971 Bangladesh independence, and 1972 exodus from Uganda, this book focuses on the entangled memories of Partition and its associated events in the diaspora. The chapters in this book explore the cultural and social significance of diasporic memorialisation done in reference to Partition, as it overlaps with the commemoration of key historical moments of change for the South Asian diaspora.

Bringing together scholars based in Bangladesh, India, and the UK and working within memory studies, history, ethnomusicology, sound studies, literature, film studies, postcolonial studies and media and communication, this edited volume reflects the transnational and interdisciplinary nature of the study of Partition memory in the diaspora and the multiple ways diasporic Partition memory is inherited and creatively remembered. It examines how Partition memory is actively constructed and communicated in media and cultural forms and delves into the particularity and potential in diasporic remembering of Partition memory, the role of arts and culture in remembering contested pasts and shared cultural heritage, and the impact these commemorations have on diasporic identities in the present.

This book is essential reading for students, scholars, and researchers of South Asian diaspora studies, memory studies, postcolonial studies, and those interested in the intersections of history, culture, and identity in the diaspora.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of South Asian Diaspora.

Jasmine Hornabrook is Research Fellow at the University of Huddersfield. She has conducted extensive ethnographic and collaborative arts-based research with South Asian diasporic groups around England and multi-sited fieldwork in South Asia. Jasmine’s research interests include migration, music, transnationalism, religion, and memory in British South Asian diasporas.

Clelia Clini is Cultural Ethnographer and Senior Lecturer in Postcolonial Media and Culture at London Metropolitan University. Her research interests include postcolonial migration, memory, and cultural heritage, and South Asian (diasporic) cinemas and literature. Clelia is currently working on a project on the British Sikh response to the 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest.

Paul Nataraj is Visiting Fellow at Loughborough University. His research interests include South Asian diaspora, sound, memory, and sonic materiality. His sound art practice also explores these areas of interest. He has made work for the British Textile Biennale, exhibited at the Kochi Biennale 2022 and has recently been part of the UK national touring show, Jerwood Survey III.

Emily Keightley is Professor of Media and Memory Studies at Loughborough University. Emily’s main research interest is memory, time, and their mediation in everyday life. She is particularly concerned with the role of media in the relationship between individual, social, and cultural memory. Her recent work has focused on the relationship between migration, identity and memory.