Bhai Vir Singh (1872–1957): Religious and Literary Modernities in Colonial and Post-Colonial Indian Punjab (Routledge Critical Sikh Studies) PDF
Preview Bhai Vir Singh (1872–1957): Religious and Literary Modernities in Colonial and Post-Colonial Indian Punjab (Routledge Critical Sikh Studies)
B H A I V I R S I N G H ( 1 8 7 2 – 1 9 5 7 ) Routledge Critical Sikh Studies BHAI VIR SINGH (1872–1957) RELIGIOUS AND LITERARY MODERNITIES IN COLONIAL AND POST-COLONIAL INDIAN PUNJAB Edited by Anshu Malhotra and Anne Murphy Bhai Vir Singh (1872–1957) This volume brings together works by established and emerging scholars to consider the work and impact of Bhai Vir Singh. Bhai Vir Singh (1872– 1957) was a major force in the shaping of modern Sikh and Punjabi cul- ture, language, and politics in the undivided colonial Punjab, prior to the Partition of the province in 1947, and in the post-colonial state of India. The chapters in this book explore how he both reflected and shaped his time and context and address some of the ongoing legacy of his work in the lives of contemporary Sikhs. The contributors analyze the varied genres, literary, and historical that were adopted and adapted by Bhai Vir Singh to foreground and enhance Sikh religiosity and identity. These include his novels, didactic pamphlets, journalistic writing, prefatory and exegetical work on spiritual and secular historical documents, and his poems and lyr- ics, among others. This book will be of particular interest to those working in Sikh studies, South Asian studies, and post-colonial studies. Anshu Malhotra is a Professor in the Department of Global Studies and Kundan Kaur Kapany Professor and Chair of Sikh and Punjab Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara, USA. Anne Murphy is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of British Columbia, Canada, and holds the Chair of Punjabi Language, Literature, and Sikh Studies. Routledge Critical Sikh Studies Encounters Across the Disciplines Series editors: Pal Ahluwalia and Arvind-Pal Mandair Routledge Critical Sikh Studies is an interdisciplinary book series dedi- cated to publishing new and innovative research on Sikh formations in the Punjabi and wider global context. Key to the approach of this series is the concept of ‘encounter’, which can be applied to Sikh Studies in two ways. First, that the term ‘Sikh’ designates a critical point of intersection with the world, and secondly, that the so-called ‘Sikh world’ has itself evolved through constant encounters: material, conceptual and spiritual. This idea of encounter is increasingly accentuated in the era of modernity, in the sense that it touches every aspect of Sikh existence and is potentially open to being studied by any discipline, or even a range of disciplines. The notion of encounter is also particularly relevant, as the Sikh lifeworld is being forced to expand beyond its comfort zones and traditional boundaries. Today’s ‘encounters’ are being registered in every field of study, including philosophical and religious encounters with other traditions of thought and practice; encounters with science, technology and media; encounters with secularism; encounters with new political and social systems, languages, literatures and groups; even intra-social encounters with new movements within the Sikh traditions. The series editors, therefore, welcome contribu- tions that work across disciplines, allowing scholars working broadly in Sikh and Punjab Studies to explore wider theoretical debates and thematic concepts from across the Humanities and Social Sciences. Global Sikhs Histories, Practices and Identities Edited by Opinderjit Kaur Takhar and Doris R. Jakobsh Bhai Vir Singh (1872–1957) Religious and Literary Modernities in Colonial and Post-Colonial Indian Punjab Edited by Anshu Malhotra and Anne Murphy For more information about this series please visit: https://www.routledge. com/Routledge-Critical-Sikh-Studies/book-series/RCSSEAD Bhai Vir Singh (1872–1957) Religious and Literary Modernities in Colonial and Post-Colonial Indian Punjab Edited by Anshu Malhotra and Anne Murphy First published 2023 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Anshu Malhotra and Anne Murphy; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Anshu Malhotra and Anne Murphy to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 9781032267784 (hbk) ISBN: 9781032288772 (pbk) ISBN: 9781003298939 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003298939 Typeset in Sabon LT Std by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd. Contents Contributors vii 1 Introduction: Bhai Vir Singh as an Author, Scholar, and Reformist 1 ANSHU MALHOTRA AND ANNE MURPHY 2 Innovation in Punjabi Literature: Considerations on the Advent of Literary Modernity 25 FARINA MIR 3 Print Publics, Literary Experiments, and Community Formation in the Work of Bhai Vir Singh 47 ARTI MINOCHA 4 The Conversion Loop: Gender, Identity, and Storytelling in Bhai Vir Singh’s Sundarī 65 ANSHU MALHOTRA 5 Revisiting The Khalsa Samachar (1899-1900): Women’s Issues and Concerns 88 PARNEET KAUR DHILLON AND JASPAL KAUR DHANJU 6 Didacticism and Punjabi Theatre: Bhai Vir Singh’s Experimental Raja Lakhdata Singh 104 GUNJEET AURORA MEHTA 7 Beyond the Past: Poetry as a Notation of the Present 119 ANNE MURPHY vi Contents 8 Intertextuality and Reception History: Connecting Bhai Vir Singh’s Srī Kalgīdhar Camatkār to Gurbilās Literature 135 JULIE VIG 9 Vir Singh’s Publication of the Gurpratāp Sūraj Granth 150 JVALA SINGH 10 Bhai Vir Singh’s Puratan Janamsakhi: Sikh Book Culture and the Historical Turn 166 HARJEET SINGH GREWAL 11 Transcendence and the Modern Sikh Subject: Analyzing Bhai Vir Singh’s Theology 185 ARVIND-PAL S. MANDAIR 12 The Manifold Lives of Bhai Vir Singh’s Sundri 213 DORIS R. JAKOBSH Index 233 Contributors Jaspal Kaur Dhanju is Formerly Professor, Department of History, Professor in-charge Maharana Pratap Chair and Dean Research, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab, India. Parneet Kaur Dhillon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History and Punjab Historical Studies at Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab, India. Harjeet Singh Grewal is an Assistant Professor in Sikh Studies in the Department of Classics and Religion at the University of Calgary, Canada. Doris R. Jakobsh is a Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada. Anshu Malhotra is a Professor and Kundan Kaur Kapany Chair in Sikh and Punjab Studies in the Department of Global Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. Arvind-Pal S. Mandair is a Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA, where he holds the Tara Singh and Balwant Kaur Chattha and Gurbax Singh and Kirpal Kaur Brar Sikh Studies Endowed Professorship in Sikh Studies. Gunjeet Aurora Mehta teaches at Niagara College-Toronto, Canada. She was the former Dean, PG programmes at Salesian College, Siliguri, India. Arti Minocha is an Associate Professor at the Department of English, Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University, India. Farina Mir is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. Anne Murphy (PhD, Columbia University) is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of British Columbia, Canada. Jvala Singh is a Punjabi language lecturer at UC Berkeley and PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia, Canada, where he is examining pre-colonial Sikh historical narratives. Julie Vig is an Assistant Professor of Humanities, Religious Studies, and South Asian Cultures at York University, Toronto, Canada. viii Contributors Figure 0.1 Some of the personal belongings of Bhai Vir Singh including different ittar (perfume) bottles, kangha, brush, pens, pencil, keys, personal kir- pan, a plate, and other items Photo credit: In the collection of Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, New Delhi Contributors ix Figure 0.2 Bhai Vir Singh’s desk Photo credit: Tejinder Singh Bawa, Bhai Vir Singh Niwas Asthan, Amritsar.
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