New Books in Literary Studies Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan, "Overdetermined: How Indian English Literature Becomes Ethnic, Postcolonial, and Anglophone" (Columbia UP, 2025)
Oct 8, 2025
Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan, an Assistant Professor of English at Rice University, delves into the complexities of identity in Indian English literature. With her book, she challenges how ethnic and postcolonial labels affect the representation of writers like Bharati Mukherjee and Jhumpa Lahiri. Srinivasan introduces the concept of 'accented reading,' highlighting how accents shape listener perceptions. She emphasizes the need for literature to push back against political hostility while exploring the legacies of influential theorists like Gayatri Spivak and Edward Said.
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Book As Cultural Study Of Literary Studies
- Ragini frames the book as a cultural study of literary studies shaped by 20 years of teaching and research experience.
- She treats Indian English literature as an object that appears under ethnic, postcolonial, or Anglophone labels rather than its own name.
Editing In Ethnic Media Shaped Perspective
- Ragini recounts working in ethnic media before grad school and editing for diverse audiences.
- That experience shaped her attention to audience beyond academic readerships.
Accented Reading Reframes Identity
- Accented reading treats identity as co-created by reader and text rather than fixed in the text.
- Accent resides 'in the ear and the eye' of the reader and guides how we interpret difference and identity.
