Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2080/4542
Title: Gender, Memory, and Postcolonialism; Reading Indian Jewish Diaspora in the Memoirs of Ruby Daniel, Sadia Shepard, and Jael Silliman
Authors: Soman, Neha
Keywords: Indian Jewish Diaspora
Memory
Gender
Postcolonialism
Issue Date: Mar-2024
Citation: American Comparative Literature Association, Annual Meeting-2024, Montreal, Canada, 14-17 March 2024
Abstract: The Indian Jewish diaspora has made significant contributions to the formation of modern Israeli society with their interventions in the liberation of Jewish refugees, servitude in the World Wars, and the revival of spoken Hebrew; however, the distinctiveness of their diasporic history and post-aliyah experiences are underrepresented, leading to a scholarly dearth in their social representations in India and Israel. This gap is addressed in this study by interpreting the diasporic uniqueness (cultural, religious, geographic, and linguistic) of the three prominent Indian Jewish communities: Bene Israel (Bombay), Baghdadi Jews (Calcutta), and Malabari Jews (Cochin) within the larger frameworks of memory, postcoloniality, and gender. The documentation of their intergenerational diasporic experiences is closely read in the memoirs of three female writers, Ruby Daniel (Ruby of Cochin), Sadia Shepard (The Girl from Foreign), and Jael Silliman (The Man with Many Hats) to examine how the personal lived histories resist the efforts of grand narratives to communalise the past, present, and future of a country. The micro-practices of these communities as a transnational minority are construed to establish their collective significance that transcend geographic, linguistic, and cultural barriers.
Description: Copyright belongs to proceeding publisher
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2080/4542
Appears in Collections:Conference Papers

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