This anthology offers students a view of literary practices across many Indian languages, over several centuries. The selections show how cultural diversity in India exists through a living mixture of continuities and transmutations; how, for instance, medieval Sufi or Bhakti poetry is found amidst the literatures of contemporary India. Dalit, tribal and women s voices are richly represented in this collection, as are themes of caste, community, gender and composite culture. The volume aims to overcome the limitations of studying the literature of a single language or literary tradition by introducing the student to comparative readings, and to rectify our privileging of written literature by including some examples of oral traditions. The anthology has eight units, of which two also touch upon the question of language politics and hierarchies. Each unit includes a significant theoretical or critical essay to complement the creative pieces included in the same unit.

Table of Contents:
Editor s Note Acknowledgements List of Maps Introducing Diversity UNIT 1: OVERVIEW Propositions -- Sujit Mukherjee UNIT 2: LINGUISTIC PLURALITY WITHIN SUFI AND BHAKTI TRADITION Introduction 1. Excerpts from The Mad Lover -- Sisir Kumar Das 2. Kafi 7 -- Bullah Shah 3. Vachana -- Mahadeviyakka 4. Baul Song (Anonymous) UNIT 3: LANGUAGE POLITICS: HINDI AND URDU Introduction 1. Excerpts from Introduction: A Conspectus from A House Divided -- Amrit Rai 2. Ghazal -- Amir Khusrau 3. Lajwanti -- Rajinder Singh Bedi 4. Hindi -- Raghuvir Sahay UNIT 4: TRIBAL VERSE Introduction 1. Excerpts from Introduction to Painted Words: An Anthology of Tribal Verse -- G.N. Devy 2. Songs of Birth and Death i. A Munda Song ii. A Kondh Song 3. Adi Song for the Recovery of Lost Health UNIT 5: DALIT VOICES Introduction 1. Excerpts from Dalit Sahitya: The Historical Background by Eleanor Zelliot 2. Habit -- F.M Shinde 3. An Untitled Poem -- N.T. Rajkumar 4. Excerpts from Karukku - Bama UNIT 6: WRITING IN ENGLISH Introduction 1. Excerpts from Indian Pride and Indian Prejudice: Reflections on the Relationship Between Regional Indian Literatures and Indian Writing in English by M.K. Naik 2. Mother Tongue -- Padma Sachdev 3. Excerpts from Kanthapura -- Raja Rao 4. Passage to America -- Ayyappa Paniker UNIT 7: WOMANSPEAK: EXAMPLES FROM KANNADA AND BANGLA Introduction 1. Excerpts from A Flowering Tree: A Woman s Tale -- A.K. Ramanujan 2. Excerpts from A Woman s Retelling of the Rama-Tale -- Nabaneeta Deb Sen UNIT 8: LITERARY CULTURES: GUJARATI AND SINDHI Introduction 1. Excerpts from From Hemachandra to Hind Svaraj: Region and Power in Gujarati Literary Culture -- Sitamshu Yashaschandra 2. Excerpts from At the Crossroads of Indic and Iranian Civilizations: Sindhi Literary Cultures -- Ali S. Asani Appendix Suggested Reading MAPS Map 1: India Scripts Map 2: Indo-Aryan Languages Map 3: Munda, Dravidian and Indo-Aryan Tribal Languages Map 4: Scheduled Castes Map 5: English as Mother Tongue Map 6: Sindhi, Kachchhi and Gujarati