Theory and praxis: Indian and Western

Product Description


The present anthology is a collection of fifteen research papers which critically explore the multiple dimensions of contemporary literary theory. It provides a wide spectrum of theories and shows their application to different texts across the globe. The twentieth and twenty-first centuries were witness to three major movements, namely Marxism, Feminism and Postcolonialism, which have led to a serious reconsidering of the so-called metanarratives of literature, science, history, economics, philosophy and anthropology. These movements have brought together a wide variety of human discourses, and have made literary theory an interdisciplinary body of cultural theory which has now become an important model of inquiry into the intricacies and complexities of human existence. The anthology includes articles on poststructuralism, postcolonialism, postmodernism, postfeminism, orientalism, nationalist and hegemonic discourses, subalternity, gender identity, eco-criticism and global aesthetics by eminent scholars and critics.


About the Author


R.N. Rai joined the Department of English at Banaras Hindu University as Lecturer in 1973, and has been working as Professor since 1995. He was Head of the Department of English from February 2010 to January 2013. He received his DLitt in 1990. His published works include W.B. Yeats: Poetic Theory and Practice (1983) and Theory of Drama: A Comparative Study of Aristotle and Bharata (1992). He has published numerous research articles, reviews and translations in internationally renowned journals and anthologies, and has completed two UGC Research Projects. He is currently the Coordinator of the Centre for Translation Studies at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. M.S. Pandey is Professor of English at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. He studied on W.H. Auden for his doctoral research and published a book The Religious Poetry of W.H. Auden. He is trained in both English literature and language teaching, and has produced various teaching materials for graduate students. His areas of research include postcolonial literature and theory, and Indian literature in English, and he has published several articles in various renowned journals and anthologies. Anita Singh is Professor in the Department of English at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. Her areas of interest are gender studies and performance studies. She recently edited a book titled Gender, Space and Resistance: Women and Theatre in India (2013), and has also published interviews with Indian women theatre artistes in Asian Theatre Journal. She received a Fulbright Fellowship to teach a course in gender and theatre at the University of Virginia, USA (2013), and she has also delivered public lectures and guest classes at the University of Illinois, University of Nebraska, University of California, University of Arcadia, Spellman College, and Hunter College.