Frontier Cultures: A Social History of Assamese Literature

by Manjeet Baruah

Overview

The study of Assamese literature has so far been in terms of the history of the Assamese language. This book is a history of the narratives written in Assamese language and its relation to the process of region formation. The literature dealt with ranges from pre-colonial chronicles, ballads and drama to modern genres of fiction and critical writing in Assamese language. Taking the Brahmaputra valley and Assamese literature as case studies, the author attempts to link literature, its nature and use, to processes of region formation, arguing that such a study needs to take the context of historical geography into consideration.

The book views region formation in north-east India as a dialectical process, that is, the dialectic between the shared and the distinct in inter-group and community relations. It borrows an anthropological approach to study written narratives and cultures so as to locate such narratives in specific processes of region formation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415500807
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/02/2011
Pages:	222
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Manjeet Baruah is Assistant Professor, School of Translation Studies and Training, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgements xv

Part I Situating the Problem

Introduction 3

1 The Valley, Frontier and the Question of 'Order' 15

2 Buranjis and Sankari Culture: Language and Narrative in Pre-colonial Textual Traditions 41

3 Language Shift and Narrative: Pre-colonial Continential Crossroad to Colonial Frontier 76

Towards a Conclusion 98

Part II Literature and Socio-spatial Relations

Introduction 109

4 Language and Narrative: Negotiating between Difference and Contradiction 113

5 Narrative and Social Base: The Irony of Breakdown 140

6 Reinventing Frontier Narrative 155

Conclusion 169

Appendix

a An Outline on Text and Social Origin of Author in Assamese Fiction 173

b Translations of Essay and Letters Published in Bahni 185

Bibliography 193

About the Author 201

Index 202