The Penguin 1857 Reader, Editor: P.K. Nayar

Abstract

The Penguin 1857 Reader, edited by P. K. Nayar is a topical anthology that revises the 1857 Uprising as one of the turning points in the colonial Indian history and literature. Instead of offering a coherent reading, the volume gathers a plurality of narrations and reactions that start in the British, Indian, and Euro-American perspectives and therefore challenges the reader to question the multidimensional ideological and nationalistic meanings of the event. Splitting into two major parts, Narratives and Responses, the anthology is a scrupulous account of not only the experiential aspects of the rebellion itself but also of its various afterlives in various territories. The editorial approach by Nayar that is based on the postcolonial historiography anticipates the complexity of the historical representation that is always complex and highlights the issues that are salient, including the role of the media, gendered violence, and the process of constructing a collective memory. Even though the inclusion of marginalized voices, such as sepoys and civilians, is enriching to the text, the collection is disproportionately based in Anglophone sources and provides a comparatively little critical commentary. Nevertheless, the anthology remains a necessary starting point in the search into this controversial history of 1857.