This book studies the intersection of performance and nationalism in South Asia. It traces the emergence of the culture of nationalism from the late nineteenth century through to contemporary times. Drawing on various theatrical performance texts, it looks at the ways in which performative narratives have reflected the national narrative and analyses the role performance has played in engendering nationhood. The volume discusses themes such as political martyrdom as performative nationalism, the revitalization of nationalism through new media, sanitization of physical gestures in dance, the performance of nationhood through violence in Tajiki films, as well as K-Pop and the new northeastern identity in India.
A unique contribution to the study of nationalism, this book will be useful for scholars and researchers of history, theatre and performance studies, cultural studies, postcolonial studies, modern India, Asian studies, political studies, social anthropology, and sociology.
About the Author: Sarvani Gooptu is Professor of Asian Literary and Cultural Studies in Netaji Institute for Asian Studies, Kolkata, India. Her main areas of research are nationalism and culture in Asia. Among her publications are three books: The Actress in the Public Theatres of Calcutta (2015), The Music of Nationhood: Dwijendralal Roy of Bengal (2018) which received the Hiralal Award for best woman historian at Indian History Congress 2019, and Knowing Asia, Being Asian, Cosmopolitanism and Nationalism in Bengali periodicals 1860-1940 (2021) as well as two co-edited volumes. She is passionate about music and regularly performs in music programmes.
Mimasha Pandit is Assistant Professor in the Department of History, Mankar College, Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal, India. Her main areas of research are the history of ideas and their performance in the wider sphere of public in colonial Bengal. Her PhD dissertation was published in 2019, Performing Nationhood: The Emotional Roots of Swadeshi Nationhood in Bengal, 1905-1912. Recently she has contributed to Itihaaser Bitarka, Bitarker Itihaas published in 2022, as well as Transcultural Humanities in South Asia edited by Waseem Anwar, Nousheen Yousuf (2022).
