| Sumario: | The Idea of Indian Literature: Gender, Genre, and Comparative Method examines the development of Indian literature through a comparative study of Hindi and Tamil short stories from the 1930s to the 1960s, focusing on how writers used the genre to challenge vernacular limitations and engage with modern gender relations. The book situates Indian literature as a dynamic and contested idea shaped by multilingual interactions, colonial legacies, and postcolonial nationalisms, rather than a fixed national canon. It highlights the role of the short story in reflecting social and political transformations, particularly through representations of gender, and explores how writers navigated literary modernism, realism, and vernacular politics. The study also critiques institutional efforts like the Sahitya Akademi’s national integration agenda, emphasizing instead the multiplicity and agonism inherent in Indian literary cultures.
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