Transcultural Memory and Globalised Modernity in Contemporary Indo-English Novels

This book places transcultural memory in the South Asian cultural and literary context. Divided into two parts, the book first defines transcultural memory in the age of globalised modernity both as a theory and social practice. Then it examines contemporary Indo-English novels from India and Pakistan with the theoretical and methodological tool of transcultural memory to shed new light on the connection between memory and modernity, and memory and South Asian cultures in the wake of new social and political transformations on the Indian subcontinent. A special focus on commemorative tropes in the novels not only show the possibility of a dialogue with different versions of the past, but also how such a dialogue shapes processes of remembrance between and beyond borders. Hence, the books comes up with alternative ways of reading the Indo-English novels, divesting the concept of (trans)cultural memory from its Euro- centrism and claiming it as equally significant in comprehending the new configurations of memory and modernity in non-Western locations.

"[...] Butt makes a convincing case for a new genre, the ‘transcultural memory novel’, supported by a careful selection of texts and a balanced treatment of Indo-English fictions. In a region that is dominated by periodic flare-ups of border disputes, religious intolerance and populist nationalism, Butt’s commitment to transcultural imagination through memory and modernity is a breath of fresh air."
(Pavan K Malreddy, Memory Studies, Vol 10, Issue 2, pp. 235-238)