Aishwarya Suresh Khale
Aishwarya's research project undertakes a deconstructive analysis of subaltern identities emerging within liminal spaces during the imperial period in India. This study offers a pioneering approach by examining narrative fiction, testimonies, and discourses through a comparative lens, shedding light on the evolution and interaction of minority subaltern identities in India and their interplay with the construction of majority subaltern identities in the national context. By critically deconstructing narratives from diverse minority groups in Imperial India, such as Jewish and Dalit communities, the project explores how colonial narratives are subverted, allowing alternative identities and resistance discourses to emerge that challenge the dominant colonial paradigms and the asymmetric power relations that persisted in the postcolonial era. This investigation of postcolonial counter-narratives set against the backdrop of colonial India underscores their contribution to revisionist historiography. The study delves into key themes such as the deconstruction of imperial nostalgia, intertextuality, multidirectional memory, trauma, and corporeality, in order to understand how these elements empower the subaltern to reimagine their identities and histories.
Title of PhD Project
Deconstructing Narratives of National Identities and Resistance: Postmodernist and Revisionist Perspectives on the Indian Subaltern during the Imperial Era
Research foci
Postcolonial Literature, Subaltern Studies, Holocaust Studies, Comparative Literature, World Literatures
