Painting Cultural Montages

Representing people in their subjective voices and across diverse cultural landscapes, is what author Mukulika Banerjee illustrates. In both, The Pathan Unarmed : Opposition & Memory in the North West Frontier (School of American Research Press,2000), which explored the history and present day implications of The Khudai Khidmatgar movement and The Sari, co authored by Daniel Miller, (Berg Publishers, 2003) that dealt with the changing notions associated with the garment, she observes people as intricately bound to their contexts. After completing her M.Phil from the Department of Sociology at the Delhi School of Economics, PhD and post doctoral fellowship from the University of Oxford, Banerjee moved to University College London in 1996 as Lecturer and is currently a reader in social anthropology. The author talks about the forthcoming book Muslim Portraits, Everyday Lives In India(Yoda Press), and her interests in discovering new avenues as an academic and a writer, with BW Online's Alokita Datta.

What is the idea behxind compiling Muslim Portraits, Everyday Lives In India? How did it evolve?
In the current climate of stereotypes, it seemed important to contribute something worthwhile to public debates, which challenged existing notions. As an academic, the obvious thing to do was to share the result of research, which too often remains confined to a tiny audience. So, I invited sociologist and social anthropologists who had worked in Muslim settings in India, to write a portrait of an ordinary Muslim person whom they had got to know during their research.

We placed great emphasis on style to make it as readable, jargon free and accessible to wide audience. Focusing on individual lives also makes for more compelling stories, what journalists call the 'human interest' story. This volume has those stories written on the basis of years of experience and knowledge in those settings.
 
In what ways is it meant to analyse socio-cultural stereotyping of Islamic sects through an insider's perspective?
A sociologist/social anthropologist always attempts to understand the worldview of the people they live with and write about, from their point of view. We try and 'think into' their persons. In these essays, we don't need to make a separate academic point about stereotyping. Just reading these stories will show the reader how diverse Muslim lives in India are.

Given the unilateral notions of paranoia about terrorism, is this anthology an attempt towards understanding Indian Muslims in greater depth?
Yes, we hope so. Clearly not every Muslim thinks like a terrorist and not every terrorist is a Muslim. Further, any real engagement with real lives reveals that the concerns of education, food security and employment opportunities are urgent; and those in which the Muslim community in India, in particular, has fared badly. The Sachar Commission report demonstrates this beyond doubt.

With regard to the research procedure undertaken for this project, is there a target demographic that formed the basis for your study?
No, the portraits here are the result of research that scholars were engaged in any case. Each was working on a different theme. I simply approached them to write about any one individual. The result is a huge variety. As the editor, I tried to cover as many parts of India as possible. But there are obviously omissions, mainly because scholars of those were unable to participate in this project.

To what extent does the constant influx of new sociological theories and concepts impact the body of academic knowledge?
New theoretical writings constantly push the frontiers of how we can think about familiar issues in new ways. Social anthropologists tend to generate new theoretical formulations mainly in an inductive way, that is, to say, the new theories come out of new material learnt through research. For instance, my current work is on popular perceptions of democracy in India. I am investigating the reasons behind the higher voter turnouts among poorer and rural voters than the urban middle classes. I hope that my analysis will not only tell us something about how democracy is perceived in India, but something about the nature of Democracy itself.

What was the most inspiring 'portrait' in your forthcoming book?
Difficult to say...I really do love them all for different reasons. The one by Aparna Rao is most poignant though simply because we lost her before the book could be completed.

The Sari is clearly more than a mere 'coffee table book' as it is often categorised. As a cultural symbol, the garment unfurls the politics of identity formation and transformation in women and connotes distinct values. Could you elaborate?
The main conclusion that we propose after our study is that contrary to popular perceptions — that the sari is antiquated — it is, in fact, the most thoroughly modern garment of all. We demonstrate through research conducted among a wide cross section of informants across the country, a lot of them who live in rural areas, that the adaptability of the sari itself, allows women to inhabit a multiplicity of roles, which is the hallmark of a 'modern' woman.

The Sari shows how through solid academic research on a single material object, such as the sari, one can comment on contemporary modernity in India. By its fantastic visuals and sharp design, the book does proper justice to this beautiful garment.

Your writing involves the process of navigating through life's 'everydayness' and the intimate personal histories of diverse people to determine something generic. How rewarding is the process?
Well, I think people and human societies in general are interesting and are the site of endless social creativity. I have been lucky in my choice of research questions that have on the one hand led me to very interesting places and on the other, generated a lot of interest from fellow scholars.

alokita(dot)datta(at)gmail(dot)com