Kala Pani Crossings: Revisiting 19th Century Migrations from India s Perspective

Introduction: Kala pani crossings : India in conversation / Ashutosh Bhardwaj and Judith Misrahi-Barak -- Theorizing the troubled black waters / Vijay Mishra -- Moving beyond the memory question : narratives of South Asian indenture, global memory capitalism and its discontents / Nandini Dhar -- Connected literatures and histories across Kala pani : perspectives from India / Ritu Tyagi -- Escaped or tricked? Why Indian women crossed / Kanchan Dhar -- The 'terror' of Kala pani : a colonial myth? / Suparna Sengupta -- Caste travelling across the Kala pani : the case of the unborn V.S. Naipaul / Joshil K. Abraham -- The cult of Draupadi and its propagation through indentured labour in Reunion Island / Vijaya Rao -- 'I will survive on a seer of saag the full year' : uncovering women's work, belonging and 'Kala pani' in 'Bidesia' songs / Ridhima Tewari -- A passage to Mauritius : the ebb and flow of Kala pani in Hindustani cinema / Kumari Issur -- Coolie life-writing and its shifting locations -- narrativizing Kala pani within the nation and in the diaspora / Kusum Aggarwal -- Pioneers across Kala pani : reading Girmitiyas in Ramabai Espinet's The swinging bridge, Gaiutra Bahadur's Coolie woman and Totaram Sanadya's Twenty-one years in the Fiji Islands / Himari Lahiri -- Exilic trajectories of crossing the Kala pani : locating female subjectivity in the writings of Ramabai Espinet and Gaiutra Bahadur / Praveen Mirda -- Retrieving the history of Coolie women : historiography, research and the role of agencies in Ramabai Espinet's The swinging bridge and Peggy Mohan's Jahajin / Arnab Kumar Sinha -- The politics of representation and the interface of Sycorax and the can : a study of Olive Senior's Arrival of the Snake-Woman / Udita Banerjee.

Introduction: Kala pani crossings : India in conversation / Ashutosh Bhardwaj and Judith Misrahi-Barak -- Theorizing the troubled black waters / Vijay Mishra -- Moving beyond the memory question : narratives of South Asian indenture, global memory capitalism and its discontents / Nandini Dhar -- Connected literatures and histories across Kala pani : perspectives from India / Ritu Tyagi -- Escaped or tricked? Why Indian women crossed / Kanchan Dhar -- The 'terror' of Kala pani : a colonial myth? / Suparna Sengupta -- Caste travelling across the Kala pani : the case of the unborn V.S. Naipaul / Joshil K. Abraham -- The cult of Draupadi and its propagation through indentured labour in Reunion Island / Vijaya Rao -- 'I will survive on a seer of saag the full year' : uncovering women's work, belonging and 'Kala pani' in 'Bidesia' songs / Ridhima Tewari -- A passage to Mauritius : the ebb and flow of Kala pani in Hindustani cinema / Kumari Issur -- Coolie life-writing and its shifting locations--narrativizing Kala pani within the nation and in the diaspora / Kusum Aggarwal -- Pioneers across Kala pani : reading Girmitiyas in Ramabai Espinet's The swinging bridge, Gaiutra Bahadur's Coolie woman and Totaram Sanadya's Twenty-one years in the Fiji Islands / Himari Lahiri -- Exilic trajectories of crossing the Kala pani : locating female subjectivity in the writings of Ramabai Espinet and Gaiutra Bahadur / Praveen Mirda -- Retrieving the history of Coolie women : historiography, research and the role of agencies in Ramabai Espinet's The swinging bridge and Peggy Mohan's Jahajin / Arnab Kumar Sinha -- The politics of representation and the interface of Sycorax and the can : a study of Olive Senior's Arrival of the Snake-Woman / Udita Banerjee.

Cover -- Endorsements -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Notes on contributors -- Introduction: Kala pani crossings: India in conversation -- PART I: Shifting the gaze -- 1. Theorising the troubled black waters -- 2. Moving beyond the memory question: Narratives of South Asian indenture, global memory capitalism, and its discontents -- 3. Connected literatures and histories across Kala pani: Perspectives from India -- 4. Escaped or tricked? Why Indian women crossed -- 5. The 'Terror' of Kala pani: A colonial myth? -- PART II: Across the oceans -- 6. Caste travelling across the Kala pani: The case of the unborn V. S. Naipaul -- 7. The cult of Draupadi and its propagation through indentured labour in reunion island -- 8. 'I will survive on a Seer of Saag the full year': Uncovering women's work, belonging and the aftermath of Kala pani in select Bidesia songs -- 9. A passage to Mauritius: The ebb and flow of Kala pani in Hindustani cinema -- PART III: Re-imagining the Kala pani narrative -- 10. Coolie life-writing and its shifting locations: Narrativising Kala pani within the nation and in the diaspora -- 11. Pioneers across Kala pani: Reading Girmitiyas in Ramabai Espinet's The Swinging Bridge, Gaiutra Bahadur's Coolie Woman and Totaram Sanadya's Twenty-One Years in the Fiji Islands -- 12. Exilic trajectories of crossing the Kala pani: Locating female subjectivity in the writings of Ramabai Espinet and Gaiutra Bahadur -- 13. Retrieving the history of coolie women: Historiography, research and the role of agencies in Ramabai Espinet's The Swinging Bridge and Peggy Mohan's Jahajin -- 14. The politics of representation and the interface of Sycorax and the snake woman: A study of Olive Senior's 'Arrival of the Snake-Woman' -- Select Bibliography.