{"product_id":"acts-of-authorityacts-of-resistance-nandi-bhatia-9780472112630","title":"Acts of Authority\/Acts of Resistance: Theater and Politics in Colonial and Postcolonial India","description":"Despite its importance to literary and cultural texts of resistance, theater has been largely overlooked as a field of analysis in colonial and postcolonial studies. A\u003ci\u003ects of Authority\/Acts of Resistance\u003c\/i\u003e seeks to address that absence, as it uniquely views drama and performance as central to the practice of nationalism and anti-colonial resistance. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eNandi Bhatia argues that Indian theater was a significant force in the struggle against oppressive colonial and postcolonial structures, as it sought to undo various schemes of political and cultural power through its engagement with subjects derived from mythology, history, and available colonial models such as Shakespeare. Bhatia's attention to local histories within a postcolonial framework places performance in a global and transcultural context. Drawing connections between art and politics, between performance and everyday experience, Bhatia shows how performance often intervened in political debates and even changed the course of politics. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOne of the first Western studies of Indian theater to link the aesthetics and the politics of that theater, \u003ci\u003eActs of Authority\/Acts of Resistance\u003c\/i\u003e combines in-depth archival research with close readings of dramatic texts performed at critical moments in history. Each chapter amplifies its themes against the backdrop of specific social conditions as it examines particular dramatic productions, from The Indigo Mirror to adaptations of Shakespeare plays by Indian theater companies, illustrating the role of theater in bringing nationalist, anticolonial, and gendered struggles into the public sphere.\u003cp\u003eNandi Bhatia is Associate Professor of English at the University of Western Ontario.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Nandi Bhatia\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0472112635\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780472112630\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Michigan Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/20\/2004\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 206\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.04lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.28h x 6.44w x 0.87d","brand":"Nandi Bhatia","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48086704488703,"sku":"9780472112630","price":79.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_e8b98332-ae90-44f6-bbdd-a457da0a194d.jpg?v=1769096096","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/acts-of-authorityacts-of-resistance-nandi-bhatia-9780472112630","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}