1st Edition

The Death and Afterlife of Mahatma Gandhi

By Makarand R. Paranjape Copyright 2014
230 Pages 3 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

230 Pages 3 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

230 Pages 3 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Who is responsible for the Mahatma’s death? Just one single, but determined, fanatic, the whole ideology of Hindu nationalism, the ruling Congress-led government whichfailed to protect him, or a vast majority of Indians and their descendants who considered Gandhi irrelevant? Such questions mean that Gandhi, even after his tragic and brutal death, continues to haunt India – perhaps more... Read more

Part One

Birth Traumas of the Nation

I: Who Killed Gandhi?

II: The Event

III: The Post-Mortem

IV: The Memorialization

V: The Repression

VI: The Unbearability of Patricide

VII: Oedipus in India

VIII: The Pollution

XIX: The Haunting

X: The Guilt

XI: The Modernity of Patricide

XII: The Mahatma’s Endgame

XIII: Gandhism vs. Gandhigiri: The Life and Afterlife of the Mahatma

XIV: Beyond the Monument: Remembering the Mahatma

XV: Gandhi and Anti-Oedipus

 

 

 

 

Part Two

‘My Death is My Message’: Mahatma, the Last 133 Days

I: Arrival in Delhi

II: ‘Do or Die’: An Old Formula in the Capital of New India

III: The Final Yajna

IV: Partitioning Women

V: Gandhi at an RSS Rally

VI: Saving India

VII: Ahimsa: ‘Softer than a flower and harder than a stone?’

VIII: Hindu-Muslim Amity

IX: The Art of Dying

Biography

Makarand R. Paranjape is Professor of English at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Among his latest monographs is Making India: Colonialism, National Culture, and the Afterlife of Indian English Authority (2012) and Altered Destinations: Self, Society, and Nation in India (2010). His previous work on Gandhi includes Decolonization and Development: Hind Svaraj Revisioned (1993).

"A remarkable work of research and analysis. ...  it is obvious that you have come up with a most valuable text."

Rajmohan Gandhi, Professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, former member of the Indian Parliament, and a grandson of the Mahatma.

"...New, creative, and daring interpretations.... little patience with the Gandhi hagiography and with devotees and critics simply recycling the same tired interpretations for decades. ... the lively engaging writing style and the challenging creative interpretations are definite strengths."

"...fascinating and thought-provoking sections getting at the patricide, Oedipus Complex...your central interpretation is daring and challenging...."

Douglas Allen, University of Maine

"You have made your readers understand Gandhi’s life in a new way--by understanding the meaning and the manner of his death. This is an original approach to Gandhi and you make a most welcome addition to the Gandhi literature."

Professor Anthony J. Parel, Calgary University