Social scientists have identified how the four crucial institutions–the state, the market, the community/civil society and the family/kinship are implicated in the discourse of understanding gender position and interpersonal relationships within the Indian Family System. Though anthropological data traces the origin and growth of the Indian family, it is however, in literature and through other cultural representations that the structural composition, changes and the emotional tensions that are an integral part of restructuring the family are scripted. The book critiques literary and cultural representations of the Indian Family to explore the manner in which the family and its structure are in transition. The various papers explore (and expose) how the Indian family, whether in India or abroad, needs to be redefined in the current context–in this age of rapid industrialization, globalisation (both cultural and economic) and the emergence of new technologies. The family is viewed from a variety of perspectives, as represented in film, theatre and literature–both in English and in the Vernacular. Including reflective pieces by several well-known scholars, this volume offers a holistic understanding of local and global shifts and fissures that shape the family today. Erudite, yet extremely readable, this volume will be of interest to anthropologists, literature scholars, and the lay reader.
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