Conclusion

Abstract

This chapter rehearses some of the fundamental arguments in the book and offers a brief summary of the chapters. It then presents two final notes. In the first note it shows that the politics and economics of the Emergency have continued to shape sociopolitical life in contemporary India. Here, the chapter suggests we might want to critically engage with the situation through another set of events that could offer enabling insights into India’s late twentieth century and post-millennial contexts. Second, the chapter asks us to note the current rise of realist writings in South Asia and across postcolonial counties. Giving an example of the recent Naxalite novels by Jhumpa Lahiri and Neel Mukherjee, the chapter reminds us that a study of the historically shaped diverse cases of realism will need a clear understanding of contingencies and conjunctures, for which a cultural reading through aesthetic modes will be key.