Poetics, plays, and performances: the politics of modern indian theatre The Politics of Modern Indian Theatre

Poetics, Plays, and Performances addresses the political and aesthetic concerns of modern Indian theatre, tracing its genealogies and looking, in particular, at its appropriation of 'folk' theatre, as it sought to constitute itself anew after Independence. The book focuses on the politics of modern Indian theatre, particularly the action and reaction inspired by official policymaking in the capital of the nation as also its international representation.

Acknowledgements o List of Photographs o Introduction o IN SEARCH OF A NATIONAL THEATRE 'The National Drama of the Hindus': Harishchandra of Banaras and the 'Classical' Traditions in Late-Nineteenth-Century India. Twentieth-Century Projections of the Past: Jayshankar Prasad and the New Subjectivity. Neither Half nor Whole: Mohan Rakesh and the Modernist Quest o THE NATION AND ITS 'FOLK'. Folk Theatre and the Search for an Indigeneous Idiom: Brecht in India. Brecht in Hindi: The Poetics of Response Classical Sanskrit Poetics and Drama. 'To Be More Brechtian is to be More Indian': On the Theatre of Habib Tanvir o WHAT IS INDIAN? Encountering the Other, Accosting the Self. 'I am a Hindu': Assertions and Queries o Index

Vasudha Dalmia is Professor of Hindi and Modern South Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley.