Abstract
Chapter 2 begins by considering the Orientalism of the Western Gaze, drawing from the work of Derek Gregory, Timothy Mitchell, Indira Ghose, and others, to discuss the world-as-exhibit, photography, and the constructedness of visual representation along lines which reflect the uneven balance of power between Occident and Orient. The chapter argues that IWWE book covers offer up particular fare for the Western Gaze and further discusses the literary marketing of Indian postcolonial writing in the marketplace, author branding, and audience reception. The chapter also considers exoticism (and fetishism) of Indian Writing in English (IWE) (both men’s and women’s) as a manifestation of 21st-century postcolonial guilt, which may ironically be yet another Orientalist — and re-Orientalist — practice, before positioning IWWE in this context.
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© 2015 Lisa Lau and E. Dawson Varughese
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Lau, L. (2015). Positioning Indian Women’s Writing in English (IWWE). In: Indian Writing in English and Issues of Visual Representation: Judging More than a Book by Its Cover. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137474223_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137474223_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-50151-9
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