Author Description

Laid out as a series of three inter-related conversations, Heterotopias investigates the diverse discourses of identity politics that relate the nationalist movement to current concerns and debates. Focusing upon the peripheries of modern India-states of Assam and Jammu and Kashmir--the first section explores local and regional nationalisms at play in marginalized spaces, highlighting their relationship with the homogenizing nationalism of the center. The next section examines literary production to delineate the plurality of narrative and consciousness. The final section explores the works of Mohammed Iqbal and Mohandas Gandhi while the conclusion provides a post-history of communalism. Overall, the volume deals with the multiplicity of historical experiences both within and without the discourse of nationalism.