The Third World Academic in Other Places; Or, the Postcolonial Intellectual Revisited

Author(s): Rajeswari Sunder Rajan

Source: Critical Inquiry, Vol. 23, No. 3, Front Lines/Border Posts (Spring, 1997), pp. 596-616
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
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The Third WorldAcademicin Other Places;
or, the PostcolonialIntellectualRevisited

RajeswariSunder Rajan

In the contemporary crisesof intellectualproductionit seemsthatwe are

called upon to attempta rethinkingof the geographiesof intellectual
labor,as severalrecentdiscussionsof postcolonialtheorymakeapparent.
Asa wayof enteringintothe concernsindicatedby mytitle(s),I propose
to set up an exchangeamong texts and names.Genericallydifferent
texts- the novel,the academicessay,the criticalinterview will be in-
vokedto this end, and therewillbe a mix of speciesnamesand proper
names in the assembledcast of characters.Out of this colloquywill
emerge,it is my hope,certainpreoccupations and equallysignificantre-
pressionswithinthe discourse.It willbe mycontentionthatit is not only
the large events and overarchingconditions ethnic conflict,center-
peripheryhierarchies,migrancy,globalcapital but also the lesserbut
moreimmediateissues professional rewardsandpenalties,institutional
sitesof pressuresand permissions,the disciplinaryaspectsof "theory"
thatgovernintellectuallabor.Toidentifydiscriminations amongthevari-
ous practiceswithinpostcolonialwork,I turnto someof the conditions
An earlier version of this paper was presented at a George WashingtonUniversity
Englishdepartmentcolloquium.I am gratefulto the studentsin my graduateseminaron
postcolonialtheoryfor the kindnessthey showedto the visiting"ThirdWorldacademic"in
their midst and their discussionswith me; these directed my thinkingon the issues raised
in this paper. My grateful and affectionatethanksalso to Homi Bhabha for his patience
and for helpful editorialsuggestions;You-meParkfor her friendshipand criticism;Dan
Moshenbergfor his carefuland collaborativereading of the draftversionand for permis-
sion to borrowhis insightsin the revisedone; and Amit Rai for his perceptivecomments,
questions,and suggestions.

Cntical Inuiry 23 (Spring1997)

All rightsreserved.
X)1997by The Universityof Chicago.0093-1896/97/2303-0009$01.00.

596
 CriticalInquiry SpXng1997 597

operativein the academy(to nameonlythe mostattenuatedsite of the-

ory)in India as an exemplaryinstance.And, finally,since a critiqueof
this kinddemandsa forfeitor stakeby wayof the affirmativegesture,I
attempta conclusion,in effect, by suggestinghow our contemporary
moraldilemmasmayfeed into--an-ewintellectualdiscipline-.

The firstof my texts is ArifDirlik's"ThePostcolonial Aura,"which

exploresthe phenomenonof postcolonialtheoryat length,focussinges-
peciallyon the numberand influenceof intellectualsof Indianorigin
teachingin prestigiousAmericanuniversities.Dirlikmakestwo substan-
tialpointsin his argument:one, thatthe conditionof the emergenceof
postcolonialintellectualsto prominenceis "globalcapitalism';and, two,
that postcoloniality "begins"when "ThirdWorldintellectualshave ar-
rived in FirstWorldacademe"and there become"pacesettersin cul-
'
turalcriticism."
Withthe firstproposition,the explanationof conjuncture,one can
haveno quarrel,butonlybecauseof its statusas a truism.The operation
of globalcapitalismas cause is so pervasivethat it is only too easy to
establishthatintellectualsin particular(andof everypersuasion)areco-
optedwithinits system.(Whatwouldbe of considerably moreinterestis
the identificationof categoriesof criticismor criticswhocouldbe consid-
ered exemptfromthe embraceof capitalism's rewardsystem sincein-
deed thatappearsto be primarilywhatis at stakehere.)I shalltherefore
proceedwithoutfurtherado to the second point, whichis clearlyin-
tendedto be readas morethanan observation.
Dirlik'sopeningargumentin the essayreflectsa not unusualinterest
in the postcolonialtheoristas a componentof postcolonialtheory.In com-
mon with other postmodernisms, postcolonialtheoryitself refusesthe
epistemological transparency In thistheoretical
of the theorizingsubject.2

1. Arif Dirlik, "The PostcolonialAura:Third WorldCriticismin the Age of Global

Capitalism,"CrzZacal Inquiry20 (Winter1994):329; hereafterabbreviated"Pk"
2. The questionof whetherpostcolonialtheory partakesof postmodernismhas been
teased out with subtletyand careby KwameAnthonyAppiah,"Isthe Post-in Postmodern-
ism the Post-in Postcolonial?" CrzttcalInquiry 17 (Winter1991):336-57.

RajeswariSunderRajanis a fellowat the NehruMemorialMuseum

and Library,New Delhi, and visitingprofessorat GeorgeWashington
University. She is the authorof Real and Imagined Women:Gender,Culture,
and Postcolonialism(1993)andthe editorof TheLie of theLand: EnglishLiter-
ary Studiesin India (1992).
598 RajeswariSunderRajan ThePostcolonialIntellectualRevisited

mode,the preoccupation withself-locationbecomesintegralto intellec-

tual production(admittedly,in more or less strenuousways).More
specifically, in the contemporary theoreticaldebatesthatI havebeen fol-
lowing,postcolonialtheoristshavebeen accusedby their colleaguesof
differentsins arisingfrom an imputedpositionof preeminence.This
seemsto derivein partfromtheirperceivedmediatingfunctionbetween
ThirdWorldpeopleand issueson the one hand and Westernimperial
and neoimperialpowerson the other,as signaledby theiridentity/affilia-
tionwiththe formerandthe language,knowledgestructures,andconse-
quentprivilegesthey derivefromthe latter.Tim Brennanhas accused
themof exclusionarytactics,for instance,and BenitaParryof an "exor-
bitation"of their own roles and a suppressionof "native"voices.3The
morecriticalaccusationis, likeDirlik'sin thisessay,thatof disengagement
fromthe most significantissuesof neocolonialism and of retreatinto a
rarifiedpostmodernistabstraction.4 In any event,"being"postcolonial,
in the senseof havingan affiliationwiththe ThirdWorld,is the insuffi-
cientbut not irrelevantconditionof"doing"postcolonialtheory.The lo-
cationof the postcolonialintellectual,when or becausethe locationis
the FirstWorldacademy,remainsan issuein determiningthe politicsof
postcolonialism. This politicsmust be, it seems, compulsorilyrelated
to "contemporary problemsof social,political,and culturaldomination"
("PA," p. 331;emphasismine).The observationthat(some)postcolonial
intellectualsin the UnitedStatesinsteadhold"highlypaid,highlypresti-
gious"positionsat "Columbia, Princeton,or Duke"and by virtueof this
commandgreater"power" thaneventheir"FirstWorldneighbors" is not
gratuitousin thiscontext("PA," p. 343).
It is intriguingto one locatedoutsidetheseprofessional squabblesin
the U.S. academyto discoverherselffiguring(fleetingly)in the discus-
sion.The specificpassagein Dirlik'sessaythatpromptsmy engagement
appearsearlyin the argument:

the termpostcolonial, understoodin termsof its discursivethematics,

excludesfromits scopemostof thosewho inhabitor hailfrompost
colonialsocieties.It does not accountfor the attractionsof modern-
izationandnationalism to vastnumbersin ThirdWorldpopulations,
let alone to those marginalizedby nationalincorporationin the
globaleconomy.... It excludesthe manyethnicgroupsin postcolo-
nial societies(amongothers)that, obviouslyunawareof their hy-
bridity,go on massacringone another.It also excludes radical
postcolonials.Intellectuals in IndiahaveaskedGayatriSpivakto ex-

3. See Tim Brennan, "Rushdie, Islam, and Postcolonial Criticism," Social Text31/32
(Spring 1992): 271-76, and Benita Parry, "Problems in Current Theories of Colonial Dis-
course," OxfordLiteraryReview 9, nos. 1-2 (1987): 27-58.
4. See Anne McClintock, "The Angel of Progress: Pitfalls of the Term 'Post-
Colonialism,"' Social Text31/32 (Spring 1992): 84-98.
 CriticalInquiry Spring1997 599

plain"questionsthatariseout of the wayyouperceiveyourself('The

post-colonialdiasporicIndianwho seeksto decolonizethe mind'),
and the wayyou constituteus (forconvenience,'native'intellectu-
als),"to whichSpivak'sansweris: "yourdescriptionof how I consti-
tute you does not seem quitecorrect.I thoughtI constitutedyou,
equallywith the diasporicIndian,as the post-colonialintellectual!"
["PA," p. 337]
Dirlikgivesthe interrogators the lastword,quotingotherexcerptsfrom
the interviewbetweenSpivakand her interlocutors in India,to whichI
shall return.
The glossthatI shallprovidemayseemgratuitous."Gayatri Spivak"
is here, representative
clearly, of the postcolonial theorists who are the
the
essay'ssubject(s);5 "radical postcolonials" in India, unnamed and inci-
dental,are myself and two colleagues, all of us women college teachers,
at the time,at DelhiUniversity.6 Nor do I find any need to disavowthe
identificationsmade by Dirlik in a trivialsensetheyaretrue.I interro-
gate Dirlik'sascribing collective identities to the interviewers-"radical
postcolonials,""intellectualsin India"-not becauseof piquebutto make
a point.7It is that "intellectuals in India," like the other Third World
residentsinvokedin the paragraph (and identified as the "vastnumbers"
who are "attract[ed by] modernization and nationalism" and the "ethnic
groups"who "goon massacring one another"), are items on a list whose
fullertheorization oughtto be, Dirlik feels,the postcolonial theorist'sbur-
den,butis refusedbyher.The invocationof these people in argument
thts
is thereforeonlygristfor the millof thatexhortation.Evenas Dirlikfore-
groundsthe interviewers' identityas a guarantorof theirpolitics,he be-
trayshis indifferenceto theirreality.I shallwantto describethis"reality"
at somewhatgreaterlengthin anotherpartof thisessay.I shallalsohave
moreto say aboutthe stagingof a confrontationfromthe structureof
the interview,on the sole groundsof locationpolitics:"us"(here)versus
"you"(there).Elsewherein the interview,withat leastequallength,sig-
nificance,and seriousness,we engageSpivakas women,and specifically

5. Elsewhere,however,she seems to be exempted from some of Dirlik'snegativestric-

tures on postcolonialtheoristsbecause of her firm grounding in Marxismand feminism;
see"PA,"pp. 338-39.
6. For the record:RashmiBhatnagar,Lola Chatterjee,RajeswariSunder Rajan.See
GayatriChakravortySpivak,"The Post-ColonialCritic,"Book Review 11 (May-June1987):
16-22; rpt. in Spivak,ThePost-ColonialCritic:Interviews,Strategies,Dialogues, ed. SarahHara-
sym (New York,1990), pp. 67-74.
7. In a brilliantcommentaryon AijazAhmad'sby now well-knowndismay at being
constitutedas Jameson'sThird Worldother, MadhavaPrasadhas drawn out the implica-
tions of whathe termsthe "commonpostcolonialnightmare,"the self'sunexpectedencoun-
ter with its (FirstWorld)representation(MadhavaPrasad,"Onthe Questionof a Theory of
(Third World)Literature,"Social Text31/32 [Spring 1992]:58). I shall merely add that, in
academicdiscourse,the collectivedesignationcan be an estrangingidentification.
600 Rajeszlvari
SunderRajan ThePostcolonialIntellectualRevisited

as "womenteachersof English," bringingup issuesof genderandEnglish

literarystudiesin India alongsideand in connectionwith those of lo-
cation.
I shallleave"ThePostcolonial Aura"(thoughto returnto it later)in
orderto moveon to (partof) anothertext thatconstellatesa similarset
of characters andissues.SalmanRushdie's TheSatanicVerses(1989) frames
thesewithina specifictime and place:Bombayduringthe late eighties.
Forthose unfamiliarwith the novel:The two protagonistsare Saladin
Chamcha,an Indianmigrantin London,an actordoing "voices"for a
Britishtelevisionseriesfora (good)living,andan India-haterandAnglo-
phile(identity:cosmopolitan); and GibreelFarishta,a Bombayfilmactor
specializingin "god"roles in FIindi"theologicals," who is on a visit to
Englandin pursuitof an Englishwomanhe has met in Indiaand fallen
in lovewith(identity:minority"national"). Fellowtravelersin an airplane
thatdetonates,SaladinandGibreelfalldownfromthe skyin eachother's
embraceand subsequentlyfollowdifferentpathsof demonizationand
"archangelization" respectively, theirmetamorphoses respectivelyliteral
and delusional.The specificdilemmasof the two charactersare (Sal-
adin's)deracination andidentitycrisisand (Gibreel's) doubtandreligious
crisis.It is SaladinChamcha's postcolonialmigrantconditionthat is of
interestformyfablehere,andthe relevantpassagesin the bookdescribe
Saladin'stwo very differentvisits"home,"to Bombay,and occurin two
places,at the twoendsof the book.
In the firstvisit,at the book'sbeginning,Rushdieassemblessketches
and dialogueswiftlyto introduceSaladin(andwithhim, the reader)to
the activist-intellectual scenein cosmopolitanBombay.8 Saladinis intro-
ducedby his girlfriendZeenatVakil(a doctor,an activist"whohad gone
to Bhopalthe momentthe newsbrokeof the invisibleAmericancloud
that ate people'seyes and lungs,"and an art criticwho is the authorof
TheOnlyGoodIndian)to twoother"radical postcolonials":
"ayoungMarx-
ist film-maker calledGeorgeMiranda. . . andBhupenGandhi,poet and
journalist"(SKpp. 52, 53). In the coffieehouse BhupenGandhirecounts
a newspaperstoryabouta railwayaccident;the twomen, soonjoinedby
others,go on to argueIndianpolitics.Is it neocolonialism (UnionCar-
bide)or nativerapacity(themassacrein Assam)thatmustbe considered
responsiblefor India'sproblems? All thisis excellentmimicry.The point
howeveris Zeenat'sadmiringcomment:"'Iwasso proudof Bhupento-
night.... In how manycountriescouldyou go into somebarand start
up a debatelikethat?The passion,the seriousness,the respect.Youkeep
yourcivilization, Toadji;I likethisone plentyfine"'(SKp. 58). Thereis
no authorialironyqualifyingthisthatI cansee.Saladinrespondsto these

8. See SalmanRushdie,TheSatanic Verses(London, 1989),pp. 51-58; hereafterabbre-

viatedSV.
 CriticalInquiry Spring 1997 601

experiences-constituting"India'sreality" bypassingout. Zeenatlooks

at himwithsatisfaction: "'I'lltell you whathappenedto you tonight....
You could say we cracked yourshell"'(Sl;;p. 57). Butat thispointin the
narrative-before the Fall-Saladin wantsno furtherinvolvementin the
Indianscene,wantsonly to return to doingvoicesin his Londontelevi-
sion studio.Rushdiestageshere,fairlyexplicitly,the crisisof existential
authenticity(in the ThirdWorld even if only as urbanradicaltalk)in
confrontation withandin the attemptedconversionof inauthenticity (ab-
surd"work" in the FirstWorldmetropolis).
Do we find in Dirlik'sargumentechoesof a similarstaging?Is Bhu-
pen Gandhi'stwenty-nine-minute talkon theAssamkillingsthe rejoinder
to the postcolonialcritic'ssilenceon 4'ethnicgroups. . . massacringone
another"?Is Saladin's mimicryof"alien"voicesto be readin Dirlik'sdis-
appointmentthat"thelanguageof postcolonialdiscourse"is merelythe
"languageof FirstWorldpost-structuralism" ("PA," p. 341)?
But to go on withTheSatanicVerses.At the end of the book,Saladin
returnsto India,sadderand wiserafterhis demonaicalexperiencesin
racistEngland,to be restoredto a dyingfatherin a spiritof reconciliation
(see SKpp. 512-47). Whenhe meetsZeenatVakiland her crowdagain
(thistimewiththe additionof Swatilekha, Miranda's girlfriend),he allows
himselfto be reassimilated intohisBombaymilieu.Rushdieputstogether
a littleseminaras before,a verycleverpasticheof debatein Indianintel-
lectualcircles:discussionrangesaroundShahbano;poemsaboutGagari,
a "'little. . . town"'; andSwatilekha's "theory"aboutthe "grandnarrative"
of religiousfaith.The narrativetone is moreundecidablenow,and talk
is followedup by action,with the organization of a "humanchain"as a
gestureof communalsolidarity.This time the commentaryis Saladin's
own, a measureof his self-realization: "'Me,takingpa7tin a CP(M)event.
Wonders zlvillnevercease;I reallymustbein love"'(SKpp. 536, 537, 538).9
The figureof womanstandsin interestingrelationto the trajectories
of the narrativesof the male protagonists.If for Gibreelhis mistresses,
dead and current,are nothingbut trouble,Saladin'smistressfunctions,
in contrast,as savior.ZeenatVakileasesSaladin's(re)entryinto a certain
India.Rightpoliticalactionin the postcolonialarenabecomesfor him
happilycoincidentalwithbeingin love;but evenmoreconveniently both
the (liberal)rhetoricof and the (sexuallyemancipated,English-speaking,
elite)participants in thatpoliticsareas "Westernized" as he, theirhybrid
genealogyone of "historically validatedeclecticism," in the termsof Zee-

9. The CP(M)is the Marxistgroup of the CommunistPartyof India. Followingthe

war between India and China (1962), the CommunistParty of India split into the CPI,
whichwasSovietoriented,and the CPI-M,alignedwith China.But even before this precipi-
tatingsplit there had been internalconflictswithinthe partyarisingfrom the issue of coop-
erationwith or oppositionto "bourgeoisnationalist"partieslike the CongressParty.
602 Rajes7l)ariSunderRajan ThePostcolonialIntellectualRevisited

nat's"TheOnlyGoodIndsn" "('meaning, is a dead')":"wasnot the entire

nationalculturebasedon the principleof borrowingwhateverclothes
seemedto fit, Aryan,Mughal,British,take-the-best-and-leave-the-rest?"
(SK p. 52).1°
The findingof this socialspacefor Saladinis as mucha component
of his returnandreconciliation to Indiaas is hisforgivenessof andby his
father.Gibreel'sreturn,on the other hand, changesnothing;Rushdie,
deprecatingly it seems,representsthe endingof his story-the killingsof
his Englishmistressand the filmproducerSisodia-throughnewspaper
headlines(whose"inch-highletters"contrastwith the "small-print" re-
port of the anticommunal "humanchain"[SKp. 542]).llThe registers,
sentimentaland sensationalrespectively, into whichRushdiedivertsthe
parallelnarratives-fromtheearliermixof comic,satirical,fabulous,and
dreammodes-produce triteclosures.
Mythirdtextis a commentary on, andresponseto, TheSatanic Verses:
GayatriSpivak's"ReadingTheSatanic Verses." Spivaksets out to provide,
first,a "straight" criticalreadingof the novel,thena senseof the context
of its reception(theinfamous"controversy"), and finallyan "intellectual
history"assembledfromthesevariousfindings.l2
In her reading,Spivakpayssomeattentionto the worldof Saladin's
Bombayfriends("thetopicalcaricatureof the Bombayurbanworldsof
the popularfilmindustry,of rhapsodic'left'politics,of Muslimhighsoci-
ety,of the generalatmosphereof communalism, carriesan idiomaticcon-
viction"["R,"p. 221]).But her entryinto it is via a largerdiscussionof
Rushdie'srepresentation of womenin thisnovel:she noteshis anxietyto
"writewomeninto the narrativeof history"and recordshis "honorable
failure"at this.Parenthetically shediscoversherselfto be a "partof Rush-
die'stext"by identifyingherselfwithSwatilekha ("R,"p. 223).l3

10. It is, of course,relevantthat Rushdiehas sought the rationalizationof his (rightto

the) representationof the subcontinent'spoliticsin preciselythese terms. See his Imagznary
Homelands:Essaysand Criticism1981-1991 (London, 1991).
11. Though Saladin's"postcolonial"returninscribesthe postmodernistmoment,it is
still traditionallyhigh modernistin form and as trope. KalpanaSeshadri-Crookssuggests
that "the native who returns is a recurrentfigure . . . in colonial and postcolonialfiction
and biographyand functions as the most individualizedand therefore a strangelyriven
subject"and adduces Saladin Chamchaas an example (KalpanaSeshadri-Crooks,"The
Primitiveas Analyst:PostcolonialFeminism'sAccessto Psychoanalysis," CulturalCritique27
[Fall 1994]:202). Gibreel'sstory of religiousand psychicalienationhas a less recognizable
literaryor cognitiveframe;in a sense this is reflected in and reflectsthe cautionaryturn
it takes.
12. Spivak, "ReadingThe Satanic Verses,"Outsidein the TeachingMachine (New York,
1993),p. 219; hereafterabbreviated"R."
13. Spivak'sparenthesisreads:
(As,a postcolonialmigrant,"a tall, thin Bengali woman with cropped hair" [SKp.
536], like Swatilekha the "real"name of the womanplayingthe lead characterin
 CriticalInquiry 1997
Sp7sing 603

But thisstraightreadingof a postcolonialtext is afterall an "impos-

sible"thing. In order to completea properreadingof the postcolonial
text, Spivakasserts,the "culturalpolitics"of its "(mis)reading" mustbe
understood("R,"pp. 219, 228).Tothisend sheexaminesthe forcesoper-
ativein the threegeopoliticalplaceswherethe ban on TheSatanicVerses
was demandedor imposed:subcontinental India, Britain'sMuslimmi-
grantcommunity, andIranandotherIslamicstatesin WestAsia.In India
she invokesthe Shahbanoissue,a disputeoverpaymentof alimonyto a
divorcedMuslimwoman,whichin 1986 only a few yearsbeforethe
Indiangovernmentissuedthe ban on TheSatanicVersesand similarlyin
responseto the Muslimcommunity's demands had sparkedoS a na-
tionwidecontroversy andthe eventualinstitutionof Muslimpersonallaw
in suchcases.She citesAsgharAli Engineer,BhikhuParekh,WoleSoy-
inka,and ZakiaPathakand myself,authorsof an articleon Shahbano.l4
It is noticeablethatthe singulardominanceof the "postcolonial critic"'s
authoritativereadingof the text,characteristic of the previoussection,is
replacedby her carefullypickingher waythroughthe pronouncements,
information,and positionsderivedfrom those writingin these places.
This is an exemplaryinstanceof a postcolonialcriticismthat does not
hideits placeof origin(theFirstWorldacademy)or scantthe complexity
of issueson accountof that removal,but insteadentersinto a careful
collaborativechartingof thatterritory,engagingconcerns,it is true,that
are theoretical(BarthesversusDerridaon the death of the author,for
example)but not "illegitimately" so, thatis to saynot at the expenseof
issuesof domination.The exhortationat the essay'sconclusionmakesits

Ray'sfilm version of Tagore'sTheHomeand the World an "actress"acting out the

scriptof femaleAnglicization read emancipation by male planningin the colonial
dispensation,I am part of Rushdie'stext, after all.) ["R,"p. 223]
Spivakfinds the most explicit identificationwith herself in Swatilekha'sexplanationthat
religiousfundamentalismis a displacementof the grand narrativesof "history,economics,
ethics. In India, the developmentof a corruptand closed stateapparatushad 'excludedthe
masses of people from the ethical project.'As a result, they sought ethical satisfactionsin
the oldest of the grand narratives,that is, religiousfaith,"an echo from her subalternhisto-
riographyessay (SV,p. 537; quoted in "R,"p. 227). See Spivak,"SubalternStudies:Decon-
structingHistoriography," In OtherWorlds: Essaysin CulturalStudies(New York, 1987), pp.
197-221. She picksup this borrowedsentencefromSwatilekhaand extends it (whileclarify-
ing at the same time the difference between the colonial and postcolonialmoments) to
conclude her "reading"of TheSatanicVerses.In "the postcolonialLebenswelt," the book is
"wrenched ... into rumor,"and "the metropolitan migrant heterogeneity ... [is able
to] forge a collectivitywhich they could stage as a strikefor the Imam againstthe West"
("R,"p. 228).
14. The text doesn'tidentify these sources explicitlybeyond a reference to "people
who are diverselyconnected to this event";we figure in the conventionalforms of citation
and attributionof authorshipin the notes ("R,"p. 241). See ZakiaPathakand Rajeswari
Sunder Rajan,"'Shahbano"'Signs14 (Spring1989):558-82.
604 RajeswariSunderRajan ThePostcolonialIntellectualRevisited

politicstransparent: "whenevertheybringout the Ayatollah,remember

the facethatdoesnotcometogetheron the screen,rememberShahbano.
She is quitediscontinuous withSalmanRushdie'sfateas it is beingorga-
nizedon manylevels.... Womanin difference,outsidein the machine"
("R,"p. 241).To whomcouldthis reminderbe addressedexcepta per-
ceivedAnglo-American readership?
The insistentfocusof Spivak'sessayon "womanin difference" high-
lightsthe incrementalattentionpaid to gender in my orderingof the
threetexts.FromDirlik'sneglectof genderas an aspectof the identityof
postcolonialintellectualsand of theirlocations,Rushdie'srepresentation
of womenin TheSatanicVerses is a step forward.Rushdieis perceptive
aboutthe socialconstructionof womenas intellectualsin a certainpost-
colonialspace here the urban upper-classmilieu of Bombay even
thoughhe reducestheirfunctionto a familiarmediatoryone, secondary
to andservingthedevelopmentof the maleego. Spivak's self-definedrole
as critic,as is wellknown,is to makean explicitcommitment to the inter-
estsof the "sexedsubaltern" evenat the riskof appearing"exorbitant" to
themby thisrepresentation. Gendermustfigurenot onlyin (ourunder-
standingof) postcolonialissuesbut alsoin the identityof the intellectual
offeringthatanalysis.
Butis therea postcolonial blindspotafterall?I catchRushdieout on
the ShahbanoafEair. He is tellingus aboutGeorgeMiranda's controversial
documentaryfilm aboutcommunalism, whichawaitsa SupremeCourt
judgementafterfundamentalists of bothreligionshavesoughta banon
its release.Mirandais "pessimistic" aboutthejudgement:

"Thisis the SupremeCourtof ShahBanofame,"he cried,referring

to the notoriouscasein which,underpressurefromIslamicextrem-
ists,the Courthadruledthatalimonypaymentswerecontraryto the
willof Allah,thus makingIndia'slawseven morereactionarythan,
for example,Pakistan's."SoI don'thavemuchhope."[SKp. 536]

Now,even a passingacquaintance with the case shouldhave indi-

catedto Rushdiethatthe SupremeCourt,on the contrary,had not only
orderedthe alimonyto be paidto Shahbanounderthe CriminalProce-
dure Code but had made derogatoryremarksin thejudgementabout
Muslimpersonallawin generalthathadseemedto manyto be gratuitous
and,arguably, hadcontributedto the controversy thatfollowed;andthat
it was RajivGandhi'sgovernmentthat had overturnedthe judgement
and passedthe law in Parliamentthat restoredMuslimpersonallaw's
applicability
in thecaseof alimony.It willnotwashforRushdieto explain
away"errata" hereas he did withMidnight's Children;
GeorgeMirandais
a charactertoo rootedin the situationhe speaksof to be a victimof the
distancein time or place thatwouldaccountfor vagueness,distortion,
 Inquiry
C7sitical Spring1997 605

or forgetting.l5No, this mustbe regardedsimplyas an instance,and a

symptomatic one, of authorialignoranceor carelessness.
Butwhatof the postcolonialcriticwhowithsuchacuityhaspursued
the intricaciesand ramifications of the Shahbanoissuein her essay;who
in an endnoteon Rushdie's"metropolitan" criticshas pickedout their
errorsand insistedthatfactualcorrectnessmattersin criticalreadingsof
the postcolonialtext;whohasevendiagnosedandpronouncedRushdie's
representation of contemporary Indiain thisnovela "failure" but marks
the deficiency on a differentterrain, that of"rural India" ("R," pp. 223,
222);but who does not light upon thisspecificerror as an example of
sucha "failure" eitherfrom oversight or from a dismissalof its signifi-
cance?Sucha collusionbetweencriticandwriterfromthe sharedmetro-
politanspaceof the FirstWorldindicatesanotherset of alignments.Is
therea structural blindness,a determinedsensein whichherreadingwill
missa particularbut crucialexampleof the author'scarelessness? Is this
relatedto the addressto an Anglo-American academicreadership,or to
the theoreticalpreoccupation withthe deathof the author?l6
I haverangedthroughthesetextsprimarilyto establisha recurrent
preoccupationin contemporary postcolonialdiscoursewith the politics
of its practitionersbasedupon theirresidencein one of twopostcolonial
spaces,the Firstor ThirdWorld.Dirlikfindsthisinvestigation reducible
to an inquiryinto postcolonialtheorists'identity,the instabilityof which
he finds scandalousand attributesto their shift to a location (the
FirstWorldacademy)other than thatof theirorigin(the ThirdWorld)
and to theirconsolidationthere"underthe bannerof postcolonialdis-
course."This "discursive" (as opposedto "structural") identityis juxta-
posed againsta contrastingcategoryof stable, "fixed"Third World
intellectualidentity("PA," p. 332). Spivak,of course,refusessuch an
oppositionand,as I haveshown,marksthe sameness-with-difference that
obtainsamongtheoristsby delineatingthe culturalpoliticsof the postco-
lonialliterarytext as the sphereof a shared postcolonialcriticalendeavor.
RushdiefeedsintobothDirlik'sandSpivak's arguments,maintaining
on the one handan oppositionaldifferenceon the authentic/inauthentic
pole and invokingon the othera transposable idiomof theorythatren-
derstheoristsindistinguishable (comparenotonlySwatilekha andSpivak
butalso,probably, ZeenatVakiland HomiBhabha).
Myinterestis in the wayallthreeof thesewritersattendto andmark
the identityand functionof the intellectual"in India"as part of their
15. See Rushdie, "'Errata':Unreliable Narration in Midnight'sChildren," Imaginary
Homelands, pp. 22-25.
16. I am gratefulto AmitRai for pushing my thinkingtowardsthese speculativeques-
tions. I am of course far from suggestingthat residencein postcolonialnationalspace pro-
vides guaranteesof"correctness,"factualor political as I hope the discussionin the next
section will make clear.
606 RajeswariSunderRajan ThePostcolonialIntellectualRevisited

respectiveprojects.In responseto DirlikI see the need to deflectsome

attentionawayfromtheAmericanuniversity, wherepostcolonialintellec-
tuals have arrived,to the place wheretheir Indiancounterpartshave
stayed and to inflectboththe questionof residenceand the identityof
intellectualswiththe marksof classand gender.In responseto Rushdie
andSpivakI shalldevelopan argumentaboutaccountability in (postcolo-
nial)intellectualwork.

Attheoutsetit is importantto acknowledge, withSpivak,thatpostco-

lonialintellectualsin the two placesof residenceare not constituted very
diSerently;that is, the classand intellectualformationof the English-
speaking,university-educated intelligentsiafromwhichuniversityteach-
ers here as well as thereare drawnis likelyto be fairlyhomogeneous.
Who staysand who goes fromamongthose who havecompletedtheir
tertiary-leveleducationin India wouldbe decidedlargelyby personal
factors.l7The other universalizing and affiliativefactorunitingthe two
sitesis the institutionalspaceof the university,whichimposesthe con-
ditionsof the professionuniformlyeverywhereand also institutesex-
changes of knowledge(though admittedlyunequally)through such
meansas publication,conferences,collaboration, and so on.
Beyondthis,however,it is worthwhileto explorethe specificitiesof
intellectualworkplaces. To reiteratethe pointwe madein our discussion
withSpivak:"Perhaps therelationship of distanceandproximitybetween
you and us is thatwhatwe writeand teachhaspoliticaland otheractual
consequencesfor us thatarein a sensedifferentfromthe consequences,
or lackof consequences, for you."18 Somesenseof the localconditionsof
the receptionof academicworkmayhelp to clarifythisissueof account-
ability.I shallmentionthree suchareaswherewhatwe mighttermthe
consequencesoperate.
The firstis visiblein the classroomin the Indianuniversity.While
the influenceof the intellectualas teachermaynot be specifiable,being
operativeto a greateror lesserdegreeaccordingto individualqualities
of rhetoricalpersuasion,her workis at least interrogatedand brought
to the test in the contextof teachingin moreimmediatetermsthan in
disembodiedpublication.The secondarea of receptionis outsidethe
academy,wheremuch"radical" criticismresonateswithactivismaround
issueswithingrassrootsmovementsandin politicalgroups,thoughagain

17. This is not to say that such factors which in fact are fairlyevidentlygovernedby
gender and class/castefeatures are ungeneralizableand contingent,only that no claims
to ethicaland politicalpriorityshould be based upon the choices made to go or stay.
18. Quoted in Spivak,"The Post-ColonialCritic,"p. 68.
 Inquiry
C7sitical sp7sing1997 607

to a greateror lesserdegree.Arld,finally,notto rarifyintellectualproduc-

tion, thereis the universityas employerto consider.The effectsof their
worktouchacademicsmostcloselyin termsof acceptanceor rejectionas
these are reflectedin professionalrewardsand punishments and it is
worthrememberingthat the academicestablishmentthat hands these
out is invariably hostileto innovation.
Alsoobservablein the contemporary Indianacademicscene,though
as yet as a mere symptomof possiblymore significantfuturedevelop-
ments,is the intriguingfactthata significantnumberof change-makers
originatefromdepartmentsof English.'9In India,whilethe phenome-
non of braindrainto the Westfromthe pool of scientistsand technolo-
gists is a familiarone and while in the socialsciencesand humanities
therehasbeena traditionaldivisionof laborthatallowedIndianacadem-
ics to assertproprietorship overIndianhistory,anthropology, or philoso-
phy with some measureof authority,there has not been a comparable
disciplineof Indianliterature,nor have teachersof Englishbeen any-
thingbut at a disadvantage in theirchosenfields.Today,however,as one
reviewernoted with relish,we are witnessingthe "savagelymarvellous
paradox"of the "bestexponents"of culturalstudiesin Indiacomingfrom
"thatmostcolonialof sections the Englishliteratureand languagede-
partments."20 If we reviewthe workof someof these"English" academ-
ics MeenakshiMukherjee,KumkumSangariand SudeshVaid,SusieJ.
Tharuand K. Lalita,TejaswiniNiranjana,and SvatiJoshi,forinstance-
wefindthatit relatesto history,gender,translation, andcomparative and
Indianliteratureand poetics,but not to the canonicalBritishliterature
thathas traditionally been describedas English.2'Thisturntowardsnew
objectsof studyis, arguably,the resultas muchof a theoryderivedfrom
theprotocolsof languageandliterarystudiesthatprivilegetextualityand
readingas it is of the perceivedirrelevanceof traditionalEnglishliterary
studiesin Indiatoday.
It is not entirelya coincidencethatall the titlesI havelistedabove
are the workof womenteachersof English(thoughof coursethe list-
like all lists also reflectsbias).But thereis a generalconclusionto be

19. This is not to slight the workof disciplinaryhistory,sociology,or politicalscience,

to name only some of the other areasof significantintellectualproduction.It is to note that
the space of"English"is being appropriatedin unexpected ways.
20. AshleyTellis,TheTimesofInduz,17July 1994.
21. See MeenakshiMukherjee,RealismandReality:TheNovelandSocietyin India(Delhi,
1985);RecastingWomen: Essaysin IndianColonialHistory,ed. KumkumSangariand Sudesh
Vaid (1986; New Brunswick,NJ., 1990); WomenWritingin Induz:600 B.C. to thePresent,ed.
SusieJ. Tharu and K. Lalita,2 vols. (Delhi, 1991-93); TejaswiniNiranjana,SitingTransla-
tion:History,Post-Structuralism, andtheColonialContext(Berkeley,1992); and Rethinking En-
glish:Essaysin Literature, Language,History,ed. SvatiJoshi (New Delhi, 1991). See also the
books referred to by Tellis:TheLieof theLand:EnglishLiteraryStudiesin India,ed. Sunder
Rajan(Delhi, 1992),and Sunder Rajan,RealandImaginedWomen: Gender,Culture, andPostco-
lonialism(New York,1993).
608 RajeswariSunderRajan ThePostcolonialIntellectualRevisited

derivedfromthe observationI havemade,a pointelaboratedbeforein

our discussionwithSpivak:the professionof teaching(includinguniver-
sity teaching),the study of English,urban middle-classprofessional
women,and a certainfeminismand the women'smovementare to be
articulatedwitheachotherin the contemporary Indiancontextfor rea-
sonsthatarebothhistorically determinedandcontingent.I shallhaveto
leavethe elaborationof thisconjuncturefor later.
I shallmakeone furtherobservation aboutthe Indianacademicsitu-
ationthatmightintroducesomefurthernuanceinto identifyingthe na-
tureof intellectualproductionin this space;this is to extendthe model
of the metropolisand provincebeyondthe FirstWorldandThirdWorld
universities'relationship.ForwithinIndia there are to be found Presi-
dencyuniversitiesat the four metropolitancenters,whichappearat the
top of a hierarchyat the lowestend of whicharethe collegesof themofus-
sils(districts)and smalltowns,recipientsof the former'sneglectand con-
descension.The former(particularly in the nation'scapital)possessgood
libraries,extendedleaves,conferences,accessto award-giving bodiesand
universitypublishinghouses,academicclout,andintimaterelationswith
Anglo-American universities;the lackof thesebenefitskeepsthe lesser
universitiesin otherregionsin a stateof provincial"backwardness." This
regionalimbalance,whichalso reflectsa classdivide,has consequences
for the kindof workthatbecomeshegemonicin the Indianacademy.
I havecircumscribed thisaccountof the consequencesand contexts
of academicworkwithina verysmallarea,primarily becausethequestion
thatis begged thatis, the influenceof the intellectualin contemporary
Indiansocietyand politics mustbe judged, finally,to be undecidable.
It is the paradoxicalcasethatintellectualsaffiliatedwiththe rulingclass
as bureaucrats, technocrats,political-partyideologues,journalists,andso
on havea disproportionately largesharein nation-stateafEairs such as
developmentand planning,legaland socialreform,media,culture,and
partypolicy;butin the roleof universityteacherstheyimpingerelatively
little upon the shapingof events.The reasonsfor this have to do, no
doubt,withthe smallnessof theirnumbersas wellas the university's am-
bivalentlocationand functioningamongthe institutionsof postcoloni-
ality.22 I do not evenspeakhereof questionsof populism the alienation
of universityintellectualsfromthe masses,oftendiagnosedas a function
of theirWesternization, comesin for periodiccriticismfromvarioussec-
torsof the intelligentsia, both progressiveand reactionary. But it is also
the casethatacademicsin Indiahavelatelybegunto seekout largerfo-
rumsfor theirwork;majordebateson topicalas wellas theoreticalissues
havebeen foughtout in the mediaamongthosebelongingto different
persuasions.There is also an increasingtendencyfor the mediain its

22. On this, see my "Fixing English: Nation, Language, Subject," in The Lie of the Land,
Pp 7-28.
 CriticalInquiry Spring1997 609

turnto seekthemout as expertson currentissuesof a controversial na-

ture,most noticeably,in recentyears,on the historyand archeologyof
the BabriMasjidandthe sociologyof casteandcommunityin the contro-
versyovercaste-basedreservations.23 Economistsand politicalscientists,
housedin universitydepartmentsand thinktanks,haveof coursehad
long-standingties with governmentplanningin development,defense,
and foreignaffairsin postindependence India.Theirsphereof influence
is in thiswayconsiderably broadened, but it wouldstillbe hardto decide
aboutits scopeor impact, much less pronounce upon its progressiveness
or otherwise,given,in particular,the ideological complicitiesof a "com-
linkedto the
pradorintelligentsia" ruling state.24
Mydescriptionof theselocalconditionsof the function,production,
and receptionof intellectualworkin the Indiancontextis intendedto
illuminatethe largerquestionof residentialdifferences.Let me clarify
thattheseare not mattersentirelyreducibleto "local"realities.The con-
sciousnessof readershipsin the West,particularly in theAnglo-American
academy,is an ever-present pressureupon Indianacademicintellectuals.
How,andwhy,do we addressthe West?ForSartre,writingaboutFanoWs
work,the ThirdWorldintellectual's speechcould only proceedfroma
powerfulanti-imperialist imperative;Said's"good"postcolonialintellec-
tualshavea similaragenda.25 But in decolonizedspaceor,morespecifi-
cally,the postindependencecontext,the politicsof intellectualworkis
likelyto be morediffusive aswellascompromised. Though,as I shallbe
suggesting,critiquesof the Westcontinueto animateintellectuals,recent
nation-statehood bringsup issues that requireattentionon their own
terms.Withinthe limitedframeof academicdiscourse,the politicalmay,
of course,findno purchaseat all.The imputationthatacademics,in the
pursuitof professionalgains, produceworkthat is imitativeof Anglo-
Americantrendsis cynicalbut reductivelycorrect.

23. The BabriMasjidis a mosque that was built over what Hindus claim is the birth-
place of the god Rama.In December 1992 the mosquewas demolishedby large crowdsled
by Hindutvaorganizations.
24. "Compradorintelligentsia"is the phrase used by Appiahto describethe "Western-
style . . . writersand thinkers,who mediatethe tradein culturalcommoditiesof worldcapi-
talismat the periphery"(Appiah,"Isthe Post-in Postmodernismthe Post-in Postcolonial?"
p. 348). I use it more specificallyto indicate those who are allied with the state in forming
policy.I am not blind to the existence of movementsthat opposethe state. Ecologicalmove-
ments (especiallyprotests against dams); leftist peasant organizations;caste-basedagita-
tions; the women'smovement;and, of course, variouscommunal,linguistic,and regional
demandsfor autonomyare significantoppositionalaspectsof the politicallife of the postco-
lonial Indian nation. Withoutarguingthat they are simply"spontaneous," or that they lack
their ideologues, I am doubtfulabout the extent to which they have found their theorists.
I thereforeleave the question unattendedand unresolvedin this note.
25. SeeJean-PaulSartre,prefaceto FrantzFanon,The Wretchedof theEarth, trans.Con-
stance Farrington(New York,1963), pp. 7-31, and EdwardSaid, "Intellectualsin the Post-
ColonialWorld,"Salmaguruii70-71 (Spring-Summer1986):44-64.
610 RajeswariSunderRajan ThePostcolonialIntellectualRevisited

The dependenceupon the West,reflectedin Indianintellectuals'

derivativecategoriesand protocolsof thought,as wellas in theirsearch
forvalidationandendorsementfromthe intellectualcentersof the West,
hastraditionally producedvariousformsof introspection, angst,andres-
olution.Someof theseconcernsarereviewedby U. R.AnanthaMurthyin
an essaycalled"TheSearchfor Identity:A KannadaWriter's Viewpoint,"
whichshallserveas my fourthillustrativetext. AnanthaMurthywrites
abouta conferenceof Indianintellectualsthat he attended,at which
the majorpreoccupation, predictably,was"whyis the Westernmodeof
thoughtand writingthe model for us?"26 An "internationally-famous"
painterpresenttheretold them a storyabouta simpleIndianpeasant
and his worshipof a stone:"Whatmatteredwashis faith,not the stone."
The painterpointedout the moral:"Ifwe don'tunderstandthe structure
andmodeof thispeasant'sthinking,wecan'tbecometrueIndianwriters"
("S,"pp. 67, 71). AnanthaMurthyis movedbut unconvinced:"Isn'tthe
authenticIndianpeasant,whoseimaginationis mythicalandwhorelates
to natureorganically, also an importedcult figureof the Westernradi-
cals?"Further,"I do not thinkthatthe childrenof thatpeasantwillbe-
lievein the magicof transferring the stoneintoGod,nordid the painter
workon hiscanvasin thatway . . . he couldn'tignorethe experimenta-
tionsin Westernpainting"("S,"p. 72).
And yet, thoughhe is unableto "idealisethe simplepeasant,"he is
consciousthathe mightas a consequencetoo easilyoverlookhim, since
"theunderlyingassumptionof the literaryculturein which I writeis
potentiallycapableof makingthe peasant'smodeof existenceand think-
ing irrelevantto me."And such neglectwouldbe fatalbecause"alarge
partof the realityof my countryis stillhim, and he is therein my lan-
guage"("S,"pp. 73, 74).
AnanthaMurthymoveshis discussionto one of readerships which
is firstof all a matterof literacy."Thepeasantat the foot of the hillcan't
readme" likethe restof morethanhalfthe country'spopulation."His
consciounessmayentermyworkas an 'object'forotherslikeme to read,
whichwillbe verydifferentfromwhatwouldhavebeen if I wereaware
in my creativeprocessthathe wasalsomy potentialreader"("S,"p. 77).
Thisshiftin his discussionto the contextof literacyandthe readingpub-
lic allowshimto be harshlyrealistic.He too is nostalgicfor the past but
it is the pastof the "radical" twelfth-centurybhaktipoetsin Kannada,for
whomthe illiteratemasseswerean "immediate" audience:"[They]were
veryimpatientwiththe naiveacquiescenceand resignationof the tradi-
tionalIndianmind.Theydidn'temulatethe peasant,but triedto rouse

26. U. R. AnanthaMurthy,"The Searchfor Identity:A KannadaWriter'sViewpoint,"

in Asian and WesternWritersin Dialogue: New Cultural Identities, ed. Guy Amirthanayagam
(London, 1982),p. 67; hereafterabbreviated"S."
 CriticalInquiry Springl997 611

him into an awarenessof his innerpotential"("S,"p. 73). Lackingsuch

an oral traditionin whichto work,the modernIndianwritercan only
waitand hope for an expansionof his readingpublicwhenthe processes
of modernization andindustrialization producea newliteratemass and
these,wheninsertedinto the middleclass,"maynot [afterall]createfor
the writersa qualitatively differentwritingsituation"("S,"p. 78).
In thinkingthroughthe predicamentof the intellectual,Anantha
Murthyrefusesto recuperatethe past by definitiona closedavenue-
andenvisagesonlya determinatefuturethatfollowsthe pathof modern-
ization,so that no resolutionin termsof any voluntaristic,individual
choiceis realisticfor the writer.Hisreflectionsareextraordinarily subtle,
avoidingthe pitfallsof both revivalistthinking(quiteexplicitly)and of
pragmaticreconciliationto hegemonicWesternthought.But he keeps
closeto boththeseresolutionsof the dilemma,thuslargelyretainingthe
problematic of the binaryframe.27
In contrast,a greatmanyotherdiscussionson the subjectcontinue
to viewIndiancreativeas wellas criticalwritingin termsof lossof auton-
omyand originality, mentalcolonization,belatedness,and mimicry.The
solution to this servitudeis invariablyformulatedin terms of"indi-
genism,"a recoveryof traditionalformsof Indianthinking- Sanskritpo-
etics,Ayurveda,Gandhism,andso on, as thecasemaybe- or of critiques
of the modernWest.These endeavors,however,have not so far been
pursuedstrenuouslyenough to emergeas strongalternativemodesof
thinking.Wheretheyhavebeen deployedtheyhaveinvariably been put
in the serviceof regressivecauseslike supportof sati (widowimmola-
tion).28The revivedrhetoricof aggressivenationalismtakesthe formof
themilitantHindutvamovementthathasaccompanied therecentgrowth
of the economicand militarypowerof the Indiannation-state.If global
capitalism'simpacton FirstWorldpostcolonialtheoreticalproductionis
to be seen in thattheory'scomplicitywithpostmodernism, as Dirliksug-
gests, in postcolonialityitself its effectsare more gross and palpable.
ThoughHinducommunalpoliticalpartieshaveborrowedthe Gandhian

27. Dan Moshenberghas suggestedto me that in AnanthaMurthy'sargument,literacy

is representedboth as a "kindof mysticalprimummob7le and as a simple technicalskill"and
is then figuredinto "thenew so-calleddevelopmentagenda."In spite of all the "furiousand
fascinatingcounterhegemonicworkof Indian left intellectuals,"he goes on, "thedefinition,
as distinctfrom the status,of writingand of literacyseems to remain fairlyuntouched"-
and no radicalreconceptualizationof the subalternis undertaken(Dan Moshenberg,email
to author, 15 Mar.1995). The unpackingand questioningof AnanthaMurthy's"leftmod-
ernist"premisesthatare initiatedhere, especiallyin relationto the subalternand to postco-
lonial "progress,"have recentlybeen deftly performedby VivekDhareshwar,"Postcolonial
in the Postmodern;or, the Politicalafter Modernity," Economic andPoliticalWeekly,29 July
1995, pp. PE-104-12.
28. See Sangari,"Introduction:Representationsin History," Journalof ArtsandIdeas,
nos. 17-18 (June 1989):3-7, esp. pp. 3-4.
612 RajeswariSunderRajan ThePostcolonialIntellectualRevisited

rhetoricof swadeshi (homemanufacture) and evenpreemptedthe left's

oppositionto the entryof multinational capital the agendaof economic
reformis not placedunderanyseriousthreat.The assertionof autonomy
is shiftedto otherspheres:culture,religion,education.
The preoccupation with the issue of writing"underWesterneyes"
drawsforth a more focussedand politicallydifferentagon fromother
quarters,a critique distinct from the broad, nationalist,anti-West-
ernization,antimodernpositionof the indigenists.Unlikeindigenism,
thiscritique'ssubstancederivesforthe mostpartfroman explicitlyinter-
nationalistMarxistposition.One significanttargetof Indianleft critics,
for instance,has been the anti-Enlightenment critiqueslaunchedfrom
the nationalistperspective whichare echoedby or find supportfrom
postmodernism in the West.It is thereforepostmodernism's postulates,
withtheirperceivedconnectionsnot simplywiththe Westin a looseop-
positionalsensebut with globalcapitalismthat are perceivedas either
irrelevantor dangerousin the Indianintellectualcontext.It is via the
circuitsof capitaland its attendantpostmodernlegitimationsthat the
West'shegemonyis perfected.A majorendeavorof the intellectualleft
hasthereforebeento counterwhattheyperceiveas the influenceof post-
modernframesof thoughtin analysesof Indianhistory,culture,andpoli-
ticsand to restorethe paradigmsof class,the socialhistorytraditionof
BritishMarxisthistorians,and the methodologiesthat are analytically
specificto SouthAsiancolonialcontexts.29
Thisis a carefullynegotiatedposition,andyet suchclassicalMarxist
theoreticalmodelshavebegun to seem increasinglyinadequatefor un-
derstandingthe complexitiesof caste,community,and genderissuesin
postindependence India.30
The recourseto variouspoststructuralisms in
Indianacademicwork,includingfeministappropriations of them,must
thereforebe understoodas a reactivemovepromptedby this perceived
inadequacybut also by the preemptiveannexationof nationalismas a
pretextfor religiousfundamentalism by the politicalright.To theoreti-
cally displaceor problematizethe categoriesof class and nation is,
predictably, to run the riskof criticismfromboth the left and right,re-
spectively.All the same,theoryas a cognitivemoveand an explanatory
framemaypotentiallyoffera usefultakeon complexissues;somecareful
discriminations aboutits "usesand limits"havealreadybegunto appear

29. See Sumit Sarkar,"OrientalismRevisited:SaidianFrameworksin the Writingof

ModernIndian History,"OxfordLiteraryReview 16, nos. 1-2 (1994):205-24.
30. For criticismof the inadequaciesof Marxistclass analysisin the Indian context,
see PurushottamAgrawal,"'KanKan Mein VyapeHein Ram':The Slogan as a Metaphor
of Cultural Interrogation,"OxfordLiteraryReview 16, nos. 1-2 (1994): 245-64; Tharu,
"Thinkingthe Nation Out: Some Reflectionson Nationalismand Theory,"Jourrzalof Arts
and Ideas, nos. 17-18 (June 1989): 81-89; and Dhareshwar,"Casteand the Secular Self,"
Journal of Arts and Ideas, nos. 25-26 (Dec. 1993): 115-26.
 CriticalInquiry Spring1997 613

injournalsandotherforumsin India.3lThismustalsoserveas sufficient

apologyfor the kindof workI do.32
I havebeen at somepainsin the foregoingdiscussionto stressthat
my descriptionof intellectualproductionin Indiais limitedto academic
work,writtenin English,centeredfor the mostpartin the metropolitan
cities, and concernedwith history,culturalstudies,and the socialsci-
ences.33In thisI havebeen guidedby considerations of spaceandby the
need for specificityin an inquiry of this sort,but also by the limitsof my
knowledge.I offer the last reason less as a modest or preemptivedis-
claimerthanas a signifier of that which is not known and/or of sanctioned
ignorance.Whiletherearea significantnumber of bicultural intellectuals
who, precisely,mediatecultures the translators I am a fairlytypical
representative of the majority trained solely in an "English" education
who can makeno claimto speakof any Indianculturewith authority.
Given,therefore,my ownmodern,secular,rationalistknowledgeandig-
norance,the rhetoricof the invocationof otherintellectualtraditions-
byotherintellectualslikemyself carriesforme littleconvictionof genu-
ine alternativeor progressivepositions,as I have indicatedearlier.It
wouldbe presumptuousand arrogantto denyvalueto these traditions
themselves;nor is this to denythe legitimacyof the inevitablequestion,
Whoexiststo challengethis coterie,this transnational intellectualcom-
munity?I havementionedotherlanguagesandotherintellectualcenters
of academicwork thoughnot withthe beliefthatthey aresubstantially
differentfrommetropolitanEnglish-language criticism.The moderniz-
ing imperativeof the centralstate as well as of the apparatusesof civil
society education,employment,the cultureindustry securethe he-
gemonyof English."Other"modesof thinking high-cultural Sanskritic
as wellas "small"traditions,such as localand folk or tribalknowledges
(in,say,agriculture,husbandry, forestry,ecology,medicine) havean au-
thenticexistence,sometimesin the visibleand contestatorystructureof
traditionversusmodernity.But traditionaVother knowledgescannotbe
viewedtodayin anyclearseparationfromthe modern andit is unlikely
thatanythingcan be consideredunmediatedby the protocolsof knowl-
edge we workwith,exceptby idealization.This is the pointof Anantha
Murthy's reflectionson the peasant.34

31. Forexample, see Bhatnagar,"Usesand Limitsof Foucault:A Studyof the Theme

of Originsin EdwardSaid's'Orientalism,"' Social Scientist 16 (July 1986): 1-15, and Nivedita
Menon, "Orientalismand After,"Economicand Political Weekly,26 Sept. 1992, pp. 2133-36.
32. Some of this workhas been mentionedin this essay.I add this so as not to stakemy
position somewhereoutside of this scene and also because if my workwere not, somehow,
illustrative,the challengeof why it was not would have to be met.
33. I clarifythis to exempt from my purviewwork in, say,the sciences,which would
undoubtedlyhave a differentgenealogy.
34. See also Dipesh Chakrabarty,"Postcolonialityand the Artificeof History:Who
Speaksfor 'Indian'Pasts?"Representations,no. 37 (Winter1992): 1-26.
614 RajeswariSunderRajan ThePostcolonialIntellectualRevisited

Finally,the matterof intellectualworkin Indiacallsfor a briefnote

on the socialbeingof ThirdWorldintellectuals. Currentlythe phenome-
non of communalism(whichis the preferredtermfor conflictbetween
differentcasteand religiouscommunities)posesthe majorchallengeto
intellectuals in India.Someof the majorcommunalcontroversies in post-
independenceIndiahavefoundbriefmentionearlierin this essay:the
Assamkillings,Shahbano,the ban on The Satanic Verses,the destruction
of the BabriMasjid,and the killingsand riotsarisingout of theseevents.
The perceptionthatinternecineconflictis the definingproblemof post-
coloniality, specificallyits nation-statehood,
is reflectedin muchcurrent
Indianintellectualdiscussion(seealsoDirlik'ssweepinggesturetowards
"ethnicgroupswho . . . go on massacringone another"in ThirdWorld
countries)at the expenseof whatused to be a preoccupation withques-
tionsof developmentcenteringon the processesof modernization.35
Butthereis an "unassimilated" storyin The Satanic Verses,one thatis
not a communalissue.It findsno explanation,callsforthno discussion,
and is quicklyrepressedby ZeenatVakil.I referto the newspaperreport
of the railwayaccident:"Afterthe accident,[BhupenGandhi]said, the
survivingpassengersswamto the shore (the train had plungedoff a
bridge)andweremetby localvillagers,whopushedthemunderthe wa-
ter untiltheydrownedand thenlootedtheirbodies."Zeenat'sreactionis
one of shameand, becauseSaladinis present,indignationat Bhupen:
"'Shutyourface,'Zeenyshoutedat him. 'Whyare you tellinghim such
things?Alreadyhe thinkswe'resavages,a lowerform"'(SKp. 55). The
event is representedas a markof civilizational otherness;Zeenat'sre-
sponseto the perceivedpressureof the West'sgaze here, Saladin's is
a familiarone amongus.
I shallmatchthiswithanothernewspaperstory,my lastillustrative
text. It is datelined10 February1995,New Delhi:
Threeresidentsof a shantytownwerekilledwhenpoliceopened
fireon a 4000-strongmobprotestingthe allegedbeatingto deathby
policeof a teen-agercaughtdefecatingin a park.
The mobshoutedanti-policeslogansandsurgedtowardsAshok
Vihar,a middle-classneighbourhood whoseresidentshad obtained
a courtorderprohibitingthe shantytowndwellersfromfoulingthe
parkfacingtheirhomes.

35. For example, see "On India: Writing,History,Culture, Post-Coloniality," special

issue of OxfordLiteraryReview 16, nos. 1-2 (1994). Six out of these nine articleson India in
the post-Independenceperiod focus on communalissues, in spite of the editors'emphasis
on the impactof IMF-and WorldBank-directedeconomicpoliciesin their introduction.
 CriticalInquiry Spring1997 615

Policesaidtheyopenedfireafterlobbingteargascanisterswhich
failedto dispersetheagitatedcrowd.36

Mypointis easyto mistake.I do not offercivilizational otherness,or an

"irreducible," 'suntheorizable," "ThirdWorld"'sreality" in invokingthis
event,as myabundanceof scarequotesshouldindicate.On the contrary,
there are only too manyexplanations,responses,and analysesreadily
available,not least withinthe reportitself.The AdditionalPoliceCom-
missioneris quotedas saying,flatly,"hadwe not takenrecourseto firing,
the houseswouldsurelyhavebeen ransackedand set on fire.Wecould
not affordto waitfurther"("P," p. 10).Thereis also a simpleexpression
of humananguishfroma Gandhiansocialworker,BindeshwarPathak
(Pathakhasinstitutedinnovativesanitationmethodsnationwide,thepro-
visionof whichshouldease the existenceof slum-dwellers considerably,
thoughof courseit willalsoentrenchthemin cityspacesmorefirmlyas
a consequence).Furtheranalyses,this timein termsof classconflict,in-
clude:"It'sa classicexampleof a socialconflictbetweentwo classesof
people,both clamoringfor basicrights";and "whatwas neededwas a
changein the attitudeof people towardsthe unfortunatedwellersof
shantytowns....'Everyonewantsto exploittheirlabor,but no one wants
to live next to them,'Singh[the city government's slumdirector]told a
newspaper" ("P,"p. 10).It is viewedasan urbannightmare:"'Withpeople
comingfromvillageseverydayto the cityin searchof workand tryingto
find a shelterwhereverthey can, it is just impossibleto implementthe
ban,'one officialsaid"("P,"p. 10). There are sociologicalexplanations
supportedwithstatistics:"According just a littlemore
to officialestimates,
than two percent of India's rural population had accessto propersanita-
tion at the end of 1990, while in urban areas the figurewas less than50
percent"("P," p. 10).
Wecannotignoretheseframes,evenif theybe wrongSdisingenuous,
partial,or simplyinadequate,since it is these that structureour lived
experience.But the issuesthatthe eventsexposehavenames poverty,
resourcedistribution, stateviolence,human-rights violations,urbansani-
tation,development and thereis thereforeno reasonwhythey should
be left outsideof the explanatoryframesof academicdiscourseor rele-
gatedto the realmof the unmentionable. On the contrary,the reporton
the deathspublishedbya civilrightsorganization, the People'sUnionfor
DemocraticRights,offersa fillland detailedanalysis.37 Butit is precisely

36. "PoliceFiring Kills 3 ShantytownDwellers,"IndtaAbroad, 10 Feb. 1995, p. 10;

hereafterabbreviated"P."IrldiaAbroadis a weekly paper published in the U.S. mainly for
immigrantIndians.(The questionof"shame:'in line with ZeenatVakil'sfeelings,is a recur-
rent one in the reportingof Indian newsabroad.)The reportis datelined 10 February1995,
but the shootingtook place on 30 January.
37. See "Custodial[)eath and PoliceFiring:A Taleof TwoCities,"Economicand Political
Weekly,22 Apr. 1995, pp. 862-65, an articlebased upon the report.
616 RajeszuariSunderRajan ThePostcolonialInteUectualRevisited

mypointthatthe workof suchreports,as of investigative journalismand

of povertyand developmentstudiesin economics,does not sufficiently
figurein, or inform,"postcolonial" studiesin the academy.38
It is also my point that in the internationaldivisionof intellectual
labor,makingsenseof thisworldis not a taskthatmustnecessarily fallto
the shareonly of some (thosewho are proximateto this reality)while
othersareexemptfromits pressures.MichaelTaussiganticipatesthe ob-
jection:"Ofcourse,that'selsewhere,alwayselsewhere,you'llwantto say,
not the rulebutthe exception,existingin An-OtherPlace."He offersthis
argumentby wayof rejoinder:

Are they [thatis, "theHistoriesof Success"]so removedfromthis

violentworldwhoseonly measureis whatit absorbsand conceals?
In talkingterror'stalkare we ourselvesnot temptedto absorband
concealthe violencein our ownimmediatelife-worlds.... Between
the orderof [the]stateand the arbitrarinessof its emergency,what
thenof the center andwhatof its talk?39

38. As an example of investigativejournalismof this kind but invested with more

than illustrativestatus I adduce the workof P.Sainath,especiallythe series of articleson
ruralpovertythat he wrotefor The Timesof Indzabetween 1993 and 1994.Anotherjournal-
ist, K. A. Abbas,describeshim as "not a 'Third World'journalist"but a "journalistof and
for the FourthWorld,the worldof the poorestof the poor,of the dispossessedand exploited
everywhere."Some of these articles,Abbas'scommendation,and other descriptionsof Sai-
nath'swork are included in the monographpublishedby the Raja-LakshmiFoundation,
Journalzsmof the FourthWorld(Madras,1994),p. 20.
39. MichaelTaussig,TheNervous System(New York,1992), pp. 11, 12, 13.