Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, ed. Nationalist Movement in India: A Reader. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009. xliii + 389 pp. $50.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-19-569881-7.
Reviewed by John Pincince (Loyola University Chicago)
Published on H-Nationalism (November, 2011)
Commissioned by Paul Quigley (University of Edinburgh)
Abridged Too Far
Over the last fifty years, writings on Indian nationalist historiography have been one of the more dynamic aspects in the field of Indian history. From the work of Anil Seal (The Emergence of Indian Nationalism [1971]) to Partha Chatterjee (The Nation and Its Fragments [1993]) and more recently Manu Goswami (Producing India: From Colonial Economy to National Space [2004]), histories of Indian nationalisms and national identities have contributed to the vibrancy of Indian historiography. Sekhar Bandyopadhyay has collected a representative sampling of writings on Indian nationalism in his edited volume Nationalist Movement in India.
The volume contains twenty-one essays by twenty contributors--Sumit Sarkar offers two separate essays. This is not a primary source reader but instead a collection of essays abridged from the original (most from previously published journal articles and some from monographs). The selected essays, which cover the period from the latter half of the nineteenth century to the moments prior to independence in 1947, were originally written as far back as 1966 (excerpt from Bipan Chandra’s The Rise and Growth of Economic Nationalism in India) to the most recent essay published in 1999 (excerpt from Sanjay Seth, “Rewriting Histories of Nationalism”).
The twenty-one essays are divided into eight parts. Part 1 examines the role of educated elite and the development of nationalism from the late nineteenth century. Parts 2 and 3 trace the impact of Mahatma Gandhi in the direction of the nationalist movement and the role of peasant mass mobilization from the 1920s, while part 4 is entitled “Muslim Identity and Political Participation.” Part 5 investigates alternative imaginings of the nation and caste identity, and part 6 appraises the roles of women and the limits to women’s participation in the nationalist struggle. Part 7 reveals the links between labor, industrial capitalists, and the Indian National Congress. And lastly, part 8 analyzes anticolonial resistance in the last years of British rule in India.
The strongest aspect, and the section I most recommend, is Bandyopadhyay’s introduction, in which he provides a useful overview of the history and historiography of modern Indian nationalism from the late nineteenth century. He makes it clear that scholars and historical figures alike are at odds with the origins of nationalism: does it lie in some ancient past or did it emerge in tandem with colonial modernity? After briefly considering arguments that support the long history of ethno-cultural identities, in particular his discussion of the writings of Anthony Smith and C. A. Bayly’s view on precolonial forms of nationality, Bandyopadhyay concentrates his analysis of nationalism in its more fully articulated modern formation. In the case of colonial India, it was not until the late nineteenth century that, according to Bandyopadhyay, we see the “growing sense of self-hood” and demand by an increasing number of Indians for a “greater share of governance” (p. xxxviii). Furthermore, Indian nationalisms and national identities are set apart from European histories of national consciousness by the heterogeneous, plural, and fragmented historical imaginings and articulations of the nationalist movement. Such notions of difference establish the foundation for the purpose of the volume as Bandyopadhyay sets forth to “highlight the pluralist nature of the Indian nation and its struggle for independence” (p. xxxv).
The limitations to the usefulness of this volume are multiple. Published as a “reader,” The Nationalist Movement in India is certainly unsuited for most introductory or survey courses on South Asian/Indian history. Since most of the essays are directed to an advanced or specialized readership in their original forms, the excerpted and abridged versions of all of the essays only make matters worse. At times, it feels as though one has parachuted into unknown territory--for instance, in the last chapter, Anirudh Deshpande’s “Sailors and the Crowd: Popular Protest in Karachi, 1946,” on the impact of the insurrection of the Royal Indian Navy in 1946. One of the glaring absences in this volume is the insertion of editor’s footnotes to place most if not all of the essay topics in historical context. The Deshpande selection cuts off the introductory paragraphs to the original essay, leaving the reader at a loss of context, broadly and specifically situated historically. This lack of historical context would have best been featured in introductions to each of the eight parts or in the form of extended footnotes.
The other element of significant annoyance, and this might not bother all readers, is the fact that all of the essays are abridged excerpts. The ellipses break up the flow and structure to the original full versions--I would prefer to simply access the journal articles or book chapters from elsewhere. In fact, many of the essays are each worthy of reading independently and in full, whether that of Chatterjee’s chapter, “Whose Imagined Community?” or the excerpt from Shahid Amin’s “Gandhi as Mahatma.” Both essays would make ideal readings for students but are best read in their full versions.
The inclusion of a glossary is another fundamental element missing from the volume. In Rajat Kanta Ray’s excerpt, “Masses in Politics,” the “Reader” could have helped the nonspecialist reader by providing translations for Hindi, Bangla, Urdu, and other unfamiliar non-English words. For instance, it would be a simple task provide the meaning of khidmatgar (a servant or waiter), khalasi (sailor), and serang (or, sarang/sarhang, also a sailor). The lack of maps and images also further diminishes the value of this volume.
Nationalist Movement in India is unfortunately a work I cannot recommend. Despite the strength of Bandyopadhyay’s introduction, the weaknesses of nearly every other aspect limit its worthiness as a “Reader.”
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Citation:
John Pincince. Review of Bandyopadhyay, Sekhar, ed., Nationalist Movement in India: A Reader.
H-Nationalism, H-Net Reviews.
November, 2011.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=26457
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