The Audacious Raconteur: Sovereignty and Storytelling in Colonial India by Leela Prasad

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The Audacious Raconteur: Sovereignty and Storytelling in Colonial India
Author:	Leela Prasad
ISBN:	9788190995092
Binding:	Hardcover
Year:	2021
Pages:	216 with 17 b/w illustrations
Size:	16 x 24 x 2 cm
Weight:	468 grams
Price:	INR~~1195~~1076.00

About the Book

Can a subject be sovereign in a hegemony? Can creativity be reined in by forces of empire? Studying closely the oral narrations and writings of four Indian authors in colonial India, The Audacious Raconteur argues that even the most hegemonic circumstances cannot suppress "audacious raconteurs": skilled storytellers who fashion narrative spaces that allow themselves to remain sovereign and beyond subjugation.

By drawing attention to the vigorous orality, maverick use of photography, literary ventriloquism, and bilingualism in the narratives of these raconteurs, Leela Prasad shows how the ideological bulwark of colonialism—formed by concepts of colonial modernity, history, science, and native knowledge—is dismantled. Audacious raconteurs wrest back meanings of religion, culture, and history that are closer to their lived understandings. The figure of the audacious raconteur does not only hover in an archive but suffuses everyday life. Underlying these ideas, Prasad's personal interactions with the narrators' descendants give weight to her innovative argument that the audacious raconteur is a necessary ethical and artistic figure in human experience.

About the Author

Leela Prasad

Leela Prasad is a Professor of Ethics and Religious Studies at Duke University. She is the awardwinning author of Poetics of Conduct and the codirector of the film Aftertones. Follow her on Twitter @ProfLeelaPrasad

Editorial Reviews

“[A] charming retelling of Hanuman's visit to Lanka[...] her insightful studies of her four subjects at times suggest to me a more complex and equivocal relationship with colonial ideology and its hegemonic language.”
—Journal of the American Oriental Society

“The Audacious Raconteur is an unusual and compellingly written book that will leave a lasting mark in the field.”
—Ajay Skaria, University of Minnesota, author of Unconditional Equality

“The Audacious Raconteur is an amazingly compact, original, brilliant book. Leela Prasad's meticulous, tireless research uncovers fascinating and unique histories of the four ‘audacious raconteurs.’”
—Ann Grodzins Gold, Syracuse University, author of Shiptown

“Acting as sleuth, storyteller and scholar, Leela Prasad introduces us to four irrepressible figures, whose lives and voices asserted a kind of sovereign subjectivity even under colonial rule. This is a remarkable book that showcases Prasad's critical vision, her attentive ear, and her sympathy for her subjects.”
—Brian A. Hatcher, Tufts University, author of Hinduism Before Reform

Customer Reviews