Recall and Retell: Literary Registers of Memory, Identity, and Resistance in India

This volume explores the instrumental role played by memory in our daily and collective narratives and the manifold ways in which it can destabilize those prevailing in India. It explores manifestations of memory and postmemory through written narratives, within India’s social, political, and cultural memoryscape. Drawing on archival research, oral history collection, and textual and critical analysis, the book endeavours to reconstruct Indian experiences in all their richness and diversity, while challenging dominant paradigms and expanding the boundaries of collective memory.

An important contribution, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of history, memory studies, partition studies, sociology, cultural studies, English literature, decolonization, and South Asian studies.

Elwin Susan John has been Assistant Professor of English at Sophia College (Autonomous), Mumbai, India since 2015. Her doctoral study was on the sociocultural intersections between skin and diseases by reading literary narratives on colonial South India. She is actively involved in interdisciplinary research ventures along with full-time teaching. She is the co-editor of Media Technology and Cultures of Memory, published in 2024.

Amal P Mathews has been Assistant Professor of English at Assumption College (Autonomous), Kerala, India since 2012. Besides being involved in various teaching-learning initiatives at her workspace, she is also interested in exploring new dimensions of literature and translation. She is currently pursuing doctoral research in the interdisciplinary field of children’s human rights in 21st century fiction. She is the co-editor of Media Technology and Cultures of Memory, published in 2024.