Men’s Lib and other literary, cultural and personal essays

Description

This ground-breaking volume examines how one interacts, responds and gets influenced by historical ideas and figures belonging to literature or public life.

Men’s Lib bears testimony to the way one gets evolved as a thinking individual where writers, thinkers, poets, public figures apparently as diverse as Edward Said, Maulana Azad, Brajkishore Prasad, Nagarjun, Barack Obama, Léopold Sédar Senghor, Vishnu Khare, Nissim Ezekiel, Dom Moraes, Mngalesh Dabral, to name a few—including one’s father and brother—jostle together to develop perspectives on multi-layered marginal discourse in which gender discourse is presented as the leitmotif of all dialogue.

A matchless, scintillating treatment of history, literature, contemporary socio-cultural fault lines, translation of ideas and texts along with personal memoirs of people, poets and places—come together to offer an enriching, passionate and intellectually stimulating experience to the reader.

This cogent collection of lucid ideas breathes the air of multi-layered and nuanced post-colonial and identity discourse impacting all thinking human beings in these complex times.

“This is a work blazing with the spirit of a deep and large hearted humanism. The concerns of the book—political, literary and personal—are about catching a moving force that is at once iconoclastic and integrative. It stands firmly against provocative outbursts and finality of convictions. Bridges are rather built by appreciating the unresolved contours of living relationalities.”

— Prof. Prasanta Chakravarty, Professor of English, University of Delhi

“Here is a collection of essays that strikes a balance between academicism and accessibility, a rare feat these days… A fascinating collection in simple prose.”

— Prof. K Satchidanandan, Malayalam poet, critic, playwright, editor, columnist and translator

“Deep dives into his topics open up new worlds, and for foreigners, many of the essays are perfect to get a better understanding of today’s India.”

— Claudia Kaiser, Vice-President, Frankfurt Book Fair

“In a broader context, he reconfigures contemporary history and its cultural icons, as he does larger social configurations, contested ideologies and literary canons. He takes us into multiple directions just as life takes us to and enables us to watch them from close quarters.

— Prof. Anisur Rahman, Poet, Translator and Critic

“This eclectic collection of essays is a veritable smorgasbord of thought-provoking discussion by an erudite, decidedly empathetic male with vast-ranging knowledge across the socio-cultural and literary scape.”

— Rami Chhabra, Columnist and Feminist Writer

“Useful, enjoyable and quietly encouraging read”

— Asad Zaidi, Poet-Critic and Translator

Kumar Vikram (b. 1973, Bihar) is an independent researcher with special interest in post-colonial and feminist studies. He is an essayist, translator, bilingual poet, book diplomat and a publishing editor with nearly 25 years of experience.

A post-graduate in English Literature from Kirorimal College, University of Delhi, he is author of Short Essays (2002), and co-author (with Prof. Arun Kumar Sinha) of T S Eliot: An Intensive Study of Selected Poems (Spectrum Books, New Delhi).

Currently, a Senior Editor with National Book Trust, India, he has delivered talks, and participated in conferences on publishing, translations and literature in India and at various cities and international book fairs of the world like Frankfurt, Beijing, London, Seoul, Warsaw, Moscow, Guadalajara, Abu Dhabi, Paris etc.

He lives in New Delhi with wife, Deepti, 13-year old daughter, Siya, and his mother.