Memory Studies in India

This pioneering volume marks a significant contribution to memory studies in India, offering an in-depth exploration of how collective and individual memories shape and reshape identities, narratives, and historical knowledge. By addressing a diverse array of topics—from forgotten events, massacres, and monuments to public spaces and food rituals—across various epochs, the essays in this collection bring new insights into India’s complex cultural history. With contributions from scholars across different stages of their academic careers, this volume not only enriches the field of memory studies but also paves the way for future research in India and beyond.

Avishek Parui is Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Studies, IIT Madras and Associate Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. He researches in memory studies, masculinity studies, and medical humanities. He is the author of Postmodern Literatures (Orient Blackswan 2018) and Culture and the Literary: Matter, Metaphor, Memory (Rowman & Littlefield 2022).

Merin Simi Raj is Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Studies, IIT Madras. Her research areas are memory studies, digital humanities, and Anglo-Indian studies. She is the co-editor of Anglo-Indian Identity: Past and Present, in India and the Diaspora (Palgrave Macmillan 2021).

The editors are faculty coordinators of the Centre for Memory Studies, IIT Madras and founding chairpersons of the Indian Network for Memory Studies (INMS). They developed MemoryBytes, the first Augmented Reality (AR)-based mobile application using the intersection of memory studies and digital humanities.