Shakespeare and Indian Nationalism: The Bard and the Raj

Shakespeare and Indian Nationalism aims to articulate the reception of Shakespeare by the 19th-century Indian intelligentsia from Bengal and their ambivalent approach to the Indian Renaissance and consequent nationalist project. Showcasing the cultural politics of British imperialism, this volume focuses on six early nationalist writers and their engagement with Shakespeare: Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar (1820-1891), Hemchandra Bandopadhay (1838-1903), Girishchandra Ghosh (1844-1912), Purnachandra Basu (1844-unknown), Iswarchandra Vidyasagar (1820-1891), Bankimchandra Chattopadhaya(1838-1894), and Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). Drawing on Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony and a host of prominent writers of cultural politics, nationalism and Indian history, this interdisciplinary approach combines postcolonial studies and Shakespeare studies in an attempt to reconcile the existence of an unbridled admiration for an English cultural icon in India alongside the rise of nationalism and a fierce resistance to British rule. The book, finally, moves to re-explore Shakespeare’s position in academic, political, and popular nationalist discourses in postcolonial India.

Manojit Mandal is Professor of English at Jadavpur University. He has published fifteen articles in various national/international journals and books in the fields of Shakespeare, Postcolonial Theory, Shakespeare in Bengal, Tagore and disability studies. He has also published two books in the area of disability studies and higher education in India. He is also the Jt Coordinator, Centre for Studies in Cultural Diversity & Wellbeing, JU, and is at present engaged as Principal Investigator on two UGC-RUSAII projects on Tagore, Transnationalism and Global South.