Postcolonial assertion of identity: The case of Indian Literature and its 'other' _______________________________________________________________

When it comes to a sense of a collective identity in India, it is basically a combination and juxtaposition of multitudes of identities, which surround it and finally produce the very concept of ‘Indianness’. It is this sense of collectivity that started in British India and went on to form the basis of a collective national consciousness in anti-colonial movements as well as postcolonial assertion of a distinct identity in later time. My paper deals with the intertwined and often interdependent trajectories of development and maturation of the idea of Indian literature and Indian national identity that went through similar developmental milestones during and after