Literary engagements with terrorism: An intervention.

Abstract

In the current political climate, counterterrorism is largely driven by an attempt at disassociating terrorism from all political substance and, instead, entirely casting it in a moral light. Deeply problematic as the strategies of terror may be, the fight against terrorism is futile unless its political nature and substance are recognized. This article argues that literary discourse can play a crucial role in furthering our appreciation of the politics of terrorism. It offers brief readings of some South Asian literary texts to show how their nuanced engagement with terrorism informs our ethical and political queries regarding terrorism. First, the article discusses two texts with sharply varying perspectives, but both based on the politics of terrorism in the Indian independence movement: Rabindranath Tagores's Four Chapters and Saratchandra Chatterjee's The Right of Way. Next, a novel by Mahasweta Devi and a short story by K. S. Duggal are explored for their insights on the Naxalite movement and the se...