Territory of Desire
Representing the Valley of Kashmir
Moves beyond traditional analysis to understand the conflict over Kashmir
304 Pages, 6 x 9 in
- Paperback
- 9780816653577
- Published: March 12, 2009
Details
Territory of Desire
Representing the Valley of Kashmir
ISBN: 9780816653577
Publication date: March 12th, 2009
304 Pages
9 x 6
Analyzing the conversion of natural beauty into collective desire—through photography, literature, cinema, art, and souvenir production—Kabir exposes the links between colonialism, modernity, and conflict within the postcolonial nation. Representations of Kashmir as a space of desire emerge in contemporary film, colonial “taming” of the valley through nineteenth-century colonialist travelogues, the fetishization of traditional Kashmiri handicrafts like papier maché, and Pandit and Muslim religious revivalisms in the region.
Linking a violent modernity to the fantasies of nationhood, Kabir proposes nonmilitaristic ways in which such desire may be overcome. In doing so she offers an innovative approach to complex and protracted conflict and, ultimately, its resolution.
Ananya Jahanara Kabir is senior lecturer in English literature at the University of Leeds.