Cultural Diversity, Linguistic Plurality and Literary Traditions in India

Editor’s Note • Acknowledgements • List of Maps
Introducing Diversity
UNIT 1: OVERVIEW
‘Propositions’ -- Sujit Mukherjee
UNIT 2: LINGUISTIC PLURALITY WITHIN SUFI AND BHAKTI TRADITION
Introduction • 1. Excerpts from ‘The Mad Lover’ -- Sisir Kumar Das • 2. ‘Kafi 7’ -- Bullah Shah • 3. ‘Vachana’ -- Mahadeviyakka • 4. ‘Baul Song’ (Anonymous)
UNIT 3: LANGUAGE POLITICS: HINDI AND URDU
Introduction • 1. Excerpts from ‘Introduction: A Conspectus’ from A House Divided -- Amrit Rai • 2. ‘Ghazal’ -- Amir Khusrau • 3. ‘Lajwanti’ -- Rajinder Singh Bedi • 4.‘Hindi’ -- Raghuvir Sahay
UNIT 4: TRIBAL VERSE
Introduction •
1. Excerpts from ‘Introduction’ to Painted Words: An Anthology of Tribal Verse -- G.N. Devy • 2. Songs of Birth and Death i. A Munda Song ii. A Kondh Song • 3. Adi Song for the Recovery of Lost Health
UNIT 5: DALIT VOICES
Introduction • 1. Excerpts from ‘Dalit Sahitya: The Historical Background’
by Eleanor Zelliot • 2. ‘Habit’ -- F.M Shinde • 3. An Untitled Poem -- N.T. Rajkumar • 4. Excerpts from Karukku -- Bama
UNIT 6: WRITING IN ENGLISH
Introduction • 1. Excerpts from ‘Indian Pride and Indian Prejudice: Reflections on the Relationship Between Regional
Indian Literatures and Indian Writing in English’
by M.K. Naik • 2. ‘Mother Tongue’ -- Padma Sachdev • 3. Excerpts from Kanthapura -- Raja Rao • 4. ‘Passage to America’ -- Ayyappa Paniker
UNIT 7: WOMANSPEAK: EXAMPLES FROM
KANNADA AND BANGLA
Introduction • 1. Excerpts from ‘A Flowering Tree: A Woman’s Tale’ -- A.K. Ramanujan • 2. Excerpts from ‘A Woman’s Retelling of the Rama-Tale’ -- Nabaneeta Deb Sen
UNIT 8: LITERARY CULTURES: GUJARATI AND SINDHI
Introduction • 1. Excerpts from ‘From Hemachandra to Hind Svaraj: Region and Power in Gujarati Literary Culture’ -- Sitamshu Yashaschandra • 2. Excerpts from ‘At the Crossroads of Indic and Iranian Civilizations: Sindhi Literary Cultures’ -- Ali S. Asani
Appendix • Suggested Reading
MAPS
Map 1: India Scripts • Map 2: Indo-Aryan Languages • Map 3: Munda, Dravidian and Indo-Aryan Tribal Languages • Map 4: Scheduled Castes • Map 5: English as Mother Tongue • Map 6: Sindhi, Kachchhi and Gujarati