The Writer, the Reader and the State: Literary Censorship in India

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.



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The book is well-balance as Chandran also picks holes in the discourses against each case of censorship she talks about.

-- The Telegraph, 15 September 2017

Chandran examines in six chapters India's literary tradition from the ancient period to contemporary times, censorship laws and rules, books banned in India, the Emergency and, lastly, why censorship has become so democratic. [It] is a timely book, readable and insightful.




-- Civil Society, January 2018 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mini Chandran is Professor of English literature in the Humanities and Social Sciences Department, IIT Kanpur. She writes occasionally for The Indian Express. A practising translator, she translates from Malayalam to English and back, and has published translations of fiction and non-fiction titles, besides academic papers in national and international journals. Her translations include A Revolutionary Life, biography of Lakshmi Sahgal (from English to Malayalam) and Autumnal Memories, biography of prominent Malayalam critic Joseph Mundassery (from Malayalam to English) . She has also co-edited Textual Travels: Theory and Practice of Translation in India. Besides literary censorship, her other areas of research interest are translation studies, Indian literature and Indian aesthetics.

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