Full Description
This book offers a comprehensive account of the censorship of literature in India since Independence and the recent trends in literature banning
The author recalls the literary censorship of books in India, both in English and in regional languages, and the impact of Emergency on banned books. The book highlights recent trends and current challenges to free literary expression in the country and attempts to locate it in the tradition of Indian literary history.
The term 'censorship', used in the book, is a rubric that includes various repressive measures, both governmental and non-governmental, in banning a book after publication, withdrawing a book using coercive tactics or suppression of a work on other grounds. It adds a literary perspective to the process of reception of these books by the reader.
Contents
Preface
Introduction: Besieged Words and Strategies of Control
The Writer and the State: The Indian Literary Tradition
Censorship Laws and Colonial Roots
Banned in India: Books Denied to Indian Readers
The Bhasha Fights: Censorship in Regional Languages
Of Shame and Silence: The Emergency 1975-77
The 'Democratization' of Censorship: Books and the Indian Public
Index
