Routledge Understanding Nation and Postnationalism: Narrative and Context in South Asian Literature

This volume explores the evolving landscape of nationalism in South Asia through the lens of literature and performance, examining how narratives challenge, contest, and reimagine the nation-state. Addressing themes of postnationalism, democratic critique, migration and trauma, rebellion against societal superstructures, and economic subjugation, the book brings together theoretical and explanatory discourses that illuminate the multidimensional nature of nationalist ideology and its literary representations. Spanning the spectrum from subnationalism to postnationalism, this collection offers extensive geographical and conceptual coverage through diverse scholarly perspectives. The contributors – representing varied nationalities and ideological positions – engage with nationalism's shifting contours in an era where static borders no longer adequately define populations or identities. Each chapter presents a synchronic examination of nation-state concepts while collectively forming a diachronic narrative that traces the chronological evolution of nationalist thought. The volume demonstrates how literary studies uniquely capture the complexities of nation-state formation, revealing the predicaments of people caught between traditional nationalist frameworks and emerging postnational realities. With a Foreword by Bill Ashcroft, this critical anthology will appeal to students, researchers, and academics in literature, cultural studies, diaspora studies, postcolonial studies, and South Asian studies. It will serve as an essential resource for those examining nation-state imaginaries, transnational identities, and the literary articulation of belonging in contemporary South Asia and beyond.