CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH-LANGUAGE INDIAN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE Children’s Literature and Culture National Character in South African Jack Zipes, Series Editor Children’s Literature Elwyn Jenkins For a complete series list, please go to routledge.com Myth, Symbol, and Meaning in Mary Poppins How Picturebooks Work The Governess as Provocateur Maria Nikolajeva and Carole Scott Georgia Grilli Brown Gold A Critical History of French Children’s Milestones of African American Children’s Literature, Vol. 1 & 2 Picture Books, 1845-2002 Penny Brown Michelle H. Martin Once Upon a Time in a Different World Russell Hoban/Forty Years Issues and Ideas in African American Essays on His Writing for Children Children’s Literature Alida Allison Neal A. 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Beckett The Children’s Book Business The Crossover Novel Lessons from the Long Eighteenth Century Contemporary Children’s Fiction and Its Lissa Paul Adult Readership Rachel Falconer Humor in Contemporary Junior Literature Julie Cross Shakespeare in Children’s Literature Gender and Cultural Capital Innocence, Heterosexuality, and the Erica Hateley Queerness of Children’s Literature Tison Pugh Critical Approaches to Food in Children’s Literature Reading the Adolescent Romance Edited by Kara K. Keeling and Sweet Valley and the Popular Young Adult Scott T. Pollard Romance Novel Amy S. Pattee Neo-Imperialism in Children’s Literature About Africa Irish Children’s Literature and Culture A Study of Contemporary Fiction New Perspectives on Contemporary Writing Yulisa Amadu Maddy and Donnarae Edited by Valerie Coghlan and MacCann Keith O’Sullivan Death, Gender and Sexuality in Beyond Pippi Longstocking Contemporary Adolescent Literature Intermedial and International Perspectives Kathryn James on Astrid Lindgren’s Work s Edited by Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer Fundamental Concepts of Children’s and Astrid Surmatz Literature Research Literary and Sociological Approaches Contemporary English-language Hans-Heino Ewers Indian Children’s Literature: Representations of Nation, Culture, Children’s Fiction about 9/11 and the New Indian Girl Ethnic, Heroic and National Identities Michelle Superle Jo Lampert The Place of Lewis Carroll in Children’s Literature Jan Susina CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH-LANGUAGE INDIAN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE Representations of Nation, Culture, and the New Indian Girl MICHELLE SUPERLE NEW YORK AND LONDON First published 2011 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk. © 2011 Taylor & Francis The right of Michelle Superle to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Superle, Michelle, 1974– Contemporary English-language Indian children’s literature : representations of nation, culture, and the new Indian girl / Michelle Superle. p. cm. — (Children’s literature and culture ; 78) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Children’s literature, Indic (English)—History and criticism. 2. Indic fiction (English)—Women authors—History and criticism. 3. Children—Books and reading—India. 4. Gender identity—India. 5. India—In literature. I. Title. PR9492.6.C45S87 2011 820.9'92820954—dc22 ISBN 0-203-81625-0 Master e-book ISBN ISBN13: 978-0-415-88634-5 (hbk) ISBN13: 978-0-203-81625-7 (ebk) Contents Series Editor’s Foreword ix Foreword xi Acknowledgements xiii Introduction Contemporary English-language Indian Children’s Novels as Aspirational Literature 1 Chapter 1 The Development of Contemporary, English-language Indian Children’s Novels 19 Chapter 2 Indian Women Writers: Imagining the New Indian Girl 37 Chapter 3 Imagining Unity in Diversity through Cooperation and Friendship 61 Chapter 4 Imagining and Performing the Indian Nation 85 Chapter 5 Imagining “Indianness” 105 Chapter 6 Imagining Identity in the Diaspora: Performing a “Masala” Self 131 Chapter 7 Performing New Indian Girlhood 151 Conclusion Old and New Boundaries 177 Appendix 181 Notes 183 Bibliography 189 Index 199 vii Series Editor’s Foreword Dedicated to furthering original research in children’s literature and culture, the Children’s Literature and Culture series includes monographs on individual authors and illustrators, historical examinations of different periods, literary analyses of genres, and comparative studies on literature and the mass media. The series is international in scope and is intended to encourage innovative research in children’s literature with a focus on interdisciplinary methodology. Children’s literature and culture are understood in the broadest sense of the term children to encompass the period of childhood up through adoles- cence. Owing to the fact that the notion of childhood has changed so much since the origination of children’s literature, this Routledge series is particu- larly concerned with transformations in children’s culture and how they have affected the representation and socialization of children. While the emphasis of the series is on children’s literature, all types of studies that deal with chil- dren’s radio, fi lm, television, and art are included in an endeavour to grasp the aesthetics and values of children’s culture. Not only have there been momen- tous changes in children’s culture in the last fi fty years, but there have been radical shifts in the scholarship that deals with these changes. In this regard, the goal of the Children’s Literature and Culture series is to enhance research in this fi eld and, at the same time, point to new directions that bring together the best scholarly work throughout the world. Jack Zipes ix