Saikat Majumdar

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{{short description|Indian novelist, critic and academic}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Saikat Majumdar
| image = Writer Saikat Majumdar.jpg
| caption = Saikat Majumdar
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| occupation = Novelist, critic, academic
| language = English
| nationality = [[India]]n
| notable_works = ''Silverfish'' (2007)<br> ''The Firebird'' (2015)<br> ''The Scent of God'' (2019)
| awards =
| website = {{Official website}}
}}

'''Saikat Majumdar''' is an Indian novelist, critic and academic. A professor of English and Creative Writing at [[Ashoka University]], Majumdar is the author of four novels: ''Silverfish'' (2007), ''The Firebird'' (2015), ''The Scent of God'' (2019), and ''The Middle Finger'' (2022). His novels primarily deal with the themes and subjects like religion, memory, sexuality, history and education.

== Biography ==
Majumdar initially studied in India, and then in the United States, where he taught for several years. He obtained his PhD at [[Rutgers University]] in 2005 under [[Derek Attridge]] with his doctoral dissertation ''Subaltern Modernisms : The Poetics and Politics of Banality in Transnational Fictions''. Currently, he is a professor of English and Creative Writing at [[Ashoka University]] and is a head of the department of the Creative Writing Program at the university. Prior to that, he taught world literature at [[Stanford University]].<ref name="Ashoka">{{cite web | last=University | first=Ashoka | title=Saikat Majumdar | website=Ashoka University | url=https://www.ashoka.edu.in/faculty#!/saikat-majumdar-45 | access-date=2020-12-10}}</ref><ref name="American Book Review">Majumdar, S. (2015). Introduction to Focus: Little India—The Provincial Life of Cosmopolitanism. American Book Review 36(6), 3-4. {{doi|10.1353/abr.2015.0126}}</ref>

Majumdar's research interests cover topics including literature of modern and contemporary world, modernism, colonial and postcolonial studies, the novel and [[narrative theory]], [[critical university studies]], the history of criticism, fiction and non-fiction writing.<ref name="Ashoka"/>

He has contributed articles in ''[[The Hindu]]'', ''[[Times Higher Education]]'', ''[[Hindustan Times]]'', ''[[The Indian Express|Indian Express]]'', ''[[The Caravan]]'', ''[[Scroll.in|Scroll]]'', ''[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|Telegraph]]'', ''[[Times of India]]''. He writes columns for ''[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]'' and ''[[Los Angeles Review of Books]]''.<ref name="Ashoka"/><ref name="Chicago">{{cite web | title=25th Anniversary Edition of "A Strange and Sublime Address" by Amit Chaudhuri - Center in Delhi | website=The University of Chicago | date=2019-11-26 | url=https://www.uchicago.in/events/25th-anniversary-edition-of-a-strange-and-sublime-address-by-amit-chaudhuri/ | access-date=2020-12-10}}</ref> He edited the special issue, ''Little India'', for the ''[[American Book Review]]''.<ref name="interview">[[Joseph D. Haske|Haske, Joseph Daniel]]. "[https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/memory-place-conversation-saikat-majumdar/ Memory and Place: A Conversation with Saikat Majumdar]". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 2020-12-11.</ref>

== Works ==
Majumdar's early works of fiction were published by [[Writers Workshop]], [[Calcutta]] including two short story collections: ''Infinitum Archipelago'' (1994) and ''Happy Birthday to You'' (1996); and two novellas: ''Hello Goodbye'' (1996) and ''Diminuendo'' (1997).{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

===Novels===
Majumdar's novels are written in evocative and lyrical style, and mainly deal with the themes and subjects like religion, memory, sexuality and history. His novels primarily take place in the Indian city of Calcutta and surrounding areas.<ref name="Scroll 2016">Quadri, Shireen (2020-04-26). "[https://scroll.in/article/960160/i-was-unconsciously-recording-the-seething-intolerance-and-incipient-rise-of-saffron-in-bengal I was unconsciously recording the seething intolerance and incipient rise of saffron in Bengal]". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2020-12-11.</ref>

Majumdar's debut novel, ''Silverfish'', was published in 2007. It brings together two stories: a single day in the life of a retired schoolteacher, Milan Sen, in 1980's Calcutta, and several decades in the life of Kamal, a woman in an aristocratic family from 19th century Bengal, who is married and widowed young. Milan finds the manuscript of Kamal's diary and reads the torn pages of Kamal's memoirs as he spends the day fighting bureaucracy and crime in order to get his pension from the Communist government of the state. The stories of Kamal's suffering, including her widowhood and the death of her son in the hands of the British, seem to echo with Milan's own suffering as their voices eventually merge at the tragic end of Milan's day.<ref name="American Book Review"/><ref>Mahadevan-Dasgupta, Uma (2008-01-04). "[http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/low-tide-in-hooghly/257643/ Low Tide in Hooghly]". Indian Express. Retrieved 2020-12-11.</ref><ref>Spotlight: Story within A story.(2008, Mar 02). [[The Statesman (India)|The Statesman]], pp. 1.</ref>

His next novel ''The Firebird'' was published in 2015. It was published in the US under the title ''Play House'' in 2017. It was featured in the [[The Daily Telegraph|Daily Telegraph]]'s Best Books of 2015 and was a finalist for the Mumbai Film Festival Word to Screen Market and the Bangalore Literature Festival Fiction Award.<ref name="interview"/><ref name="Los Angeles Review of Books">{{cite web | title=Saikat Majumdar | website=Los Angeles Review of Books | url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/contributor/saikat-majumdar/ | access-date=2020-11-29}}</ref>

''The Firebird'' is set in the [[Setting (narrative)|backdrop]] of [[Indian theatre]] (in north Calcutta) and take place in mid to late-1980's. It tells the story of a small boy, Ori, who grows up in a once-affluent family now trying to maintain its social status in a conservative north Calcutta neighborhood. Its main focus is Ori's relation with his mother, Garima, a stage actress, whose profession evokes moral suspicion in the family and the neighborhood, and how that suspicion eventually shapes Ori's destructive relation with the art form of theatre.<ref>"Fiction Book Review: Play House by Saikat Majumdar. Permanent, $28 (224p) {{ISBN|978-1-57962-497-2}}". PublishersWeekly.com. 2017-04-14. Retrieved 2020-12-11</ref><ref name="American Book Review"/><ref name="Hattangdi">Hattangdi, S. (2015). The Ashes of Art. American Book Review 36(6), 13. {{doi|10.1353/abr.2015.0123}}.</ref> Writer Sumana Roy praised the storytelling and the central metaphor of the novel, death.<ref>Roy, Sumana (2015-07-03). "[https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/BR9siGUOGnlB7XRvYSuiPO/Book-Review-Saikat-Majumdars-The-Firebird.html Book Review: Saikat Majumdar's The Firebird]". [[Mint (newspaper)|Mint]]. Retrieved 2020-12-11.</ref> Sheila Hattangdi reviewed ''The Firebird'' in the ''[[American Book Review]]'' and praised the characterisation and the presentation of scenes, writing: "he [Majumdar] has the remarkable ability to get into the skin of his characters while remaining somewhat detached, and he asks the reader to assume an active position in confronting the society that the characters come face to face with, so much so that the voice of the narrative becomes something far greater than the sum of its parts".<ref name="Hattangdi"/> Writer [[Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar]] praised the 'atmospheric' description of student life and the author's writing. He wrote that Majumdar's writing is so subtle that some parts of this novel warrant a second reading. Shekhar called the novel 'a revelation draped in sensuousness'.<ref>Shekhar, Hansda Sowvendra (2019-02-23). "[https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/love-off-campus-5598144/ Love Off-Campus]". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2020-12-15.</ref>

Majumdar's third novel ''The Scent of God'', a [[bildungsroman]], was written during 2015 and 2018, and was published in 2019. It narrates a love story between two teenage boys (Anirvan/Yogi and Kajol) in an all-boys' boarding school run by Hindu monastic order. The novel is set in late 20th-century when same-sex relationship constitute a crime.<ref>Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (2019-02-25). "[https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/saikat-majumdar-discusses-his-book-the-scent-of-god-that-revolves-around-two-boys-in-a-monastic-boarding-school/article26365961.ece Saikat Majumdar discusses his book 'The Scent of God']". The Hindu. Retrieved 2020-12-11.</ref> The novel received critical acclaim upon release and was listed as the Best Romance Novels of 2019 by the [[Times of India]].<ref name="Scroll 2016"/> It was shortlisted for the [[Mathrubhumi Literary Award|Mathrubhumi Book of the Year Award]].<ref>"[https://www.thehindu.com/books/vinod-shukla-bags-first-mathrubhumi-book-of-the-year-award/article30719270.eceVinod Shukla bags first Mathrubhumi Book of the Year award]". The Hindu. 2020-02-02. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
</ref>

Author Aditya Sudarshan praised the novel's narrative and called it 'fluent' and 'significant'.<ref>Sudarshan, Aditya (2019-03-01). "[https://www.thehindu.com/books/the-scent-of-god-by-saikat-majumdar-beautiful-and-fragile-as-a-dream/article26405842.ece 'The Scent of God' by Saikat Majumdar]". The Hindu. Retrieved 2020-12-14.</ref> Imran Ali Khan, writing for ''[[Scroll.in]]'', noted that the novel is potent with promise but remains opaque. He noted that author's efforts to think about the delicate lines between the sensory and the erotic are perhaps too thin and they remain unexplored. He praised the 'beautiful narrative' and storytelling.<ref>Khan, Imran Ali (2019-03-16). "[https://scroll.in/article/914925/the-scent-of-god-saikat-majumdars-new-novel-bursts-with-sensory-beauty-but-refuses-to-go-deeper 'The Scent of God': Saikat Majumdar's new novel bursts with sensory beauty but refuses to go deeper]". [[Scroll.in]]. Retrieved 2020-12-14.</ref> Lamat R Hasan, writing for ''[[Hindustan Times]]'', praised the novel for its 'powerful' writing, and wrote that "every word is carefully crafted and the subtle carelessness in every sentence opens an ocean of interpretations. The poetry-prose captures the tension of the two entangled world orders, spiritual and material".<ref>Hasan, Lamat R (2019-10-11). [https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/review-the-scent-of-god-by-saikat-majumdar/story-7Lm1camjEG3qEiYmnYEuyM.html "Review: The Scent of God by Saikat Majumdar"]. Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2020-12-14.</ref>

Writer Sohinee Roy reviewed the novel in ''[[The Wire (India)|The Wire]]''. She termed the novel as an "intimate and aesthetic response to religious life of India". According to her the novel offers a way to understand why dismissing religion as backward has not prevented it from intruding on and usurping our secular existence. The novel also presents a counter to limited visions of religion.<ref>Roy, Sohinee (2019-01-24). [https://thewire.in/books/bbok-review-scent-of-god "Book Review: The Limits of Reason Against the Seductive Power of Religion"]. [[The Wire (India)|The Wire]]. Retrieved 2020-12-14.</ref>

==Critical works==
Majumdar's first critical work ''Prose of the World: Modernism and the Banality of Empire'' was published in 2013. It presents a study of [[Anglophone world]] literature, and analyses how banality, boredom, and the quotidian shape twentieth-century literature. In the book, the author argues that the innovative narrative energy of [[modernism]] was driven by the quotidian and shaped especially by its engagement with a uniquely colonial experience of banality.<ref>Barrows, A. (2014). [Review of the book Prose of the World: Modernism and the Banality of Empire, by Saikat Majumdar]. The Comparatist 38, 361-363. {{doi|10.1353/com.2014.0035}}</ref><ref>Hentea, M. (2014). [Review of the book Prose of the World: Modernism and the Banality of Empire, by Saikat Majumdar]. Modernism/modernity 21(2), 572-573. {{doi|10.1353/mod.2014.0040}}</ref><ref>Jani, P. (2013). [Review of the book Prose of the World: Modernism and the Banality of Empire, by Saikat Majumdar]. James Joyce Quarterly 51(1), 227-232. {{doi|10.1353/jjq.2013.0089}}</ref><ref>Rizzuto, N. (2014). The Force of the Everyday. Contemporary Literature 55(2), 421-429. {{doi|10.1353/cli.2014.0018}}</ref>

His book ''College: Pathways of Possibility'' (2018) is an exploration into the [[Education in India|Indian education system]] through conversations, reminiscences, research references, and critical analysis.<ref>Srinivasan, Madhumitha (2018-01-07). "[https://www.thehindu.com/education/college-pathways-of-possibilities/article22383109.ece College: Pathways of Possibility]". The Hindu. Retrieved 2020-12-11.</ref> Critic [[Anjum Hasan]] cited it as "a bold critique of Indian higher education system".<ref name="The Hindu 2018">Hasan, Anjum (2018-01-13). "[https://www.thehindu.com/society/education-must-be-more-than-mere-consumption-of-knowledge-says-academic-saikat-majumdar/article22430074.ece Education must be more than mere consumption of knowledge: Saikat Majumdar]". The Hindu. Retrieved 2020-11-29.</ref>

== Recognition ==
Majumdar's ''The Scent of God'' (2019) was one of [[Times of India]]'s 20 Most Talked About Indian Books of 2019, and a Finalist for the Mathrubhumi Book of the Year Award 2020. His book ''Prose of the World: Modernism and the Banality of Empire'' was a finalist for the Modernist Studies Association Annual Book Prize in 2014. His novel ''The Firebird'' is one of Telegraph's Best Books of 2015 and a finalist for the Atta-Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Fiction Prize in 2015 and the Mumbai Film Festival Word-to-Screen Market in 2016. Majumdar was named a Fellow at the Suzy Newhouse Center for the Humanities at [[Wellesley College]] in 2017<ref name="Ashoka"/><ref name="Chicago"/><ref name="BLF">{{cite web | title=Atta Galatta-Bangalore Literature Festival - Book Prize | website=Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF) | date=2020-11-24 | url=http://bangaloreliteraturefestival.org/archives/year-2019/ag-blf-book-prize/ | access-date=2020-12-10}}</ref>

== List of publications ==
*''Silverfish'' (Harper Collins, 2007)
*''The Firebird/Play House'' (Hachette, 2015 & 2017; The Permanent Press, 2017)
*''College: Pathways of Possibility'' (Bloomsbury, 2018)
*''The Scent of God'' (Simon & Schuster, 2019)
*''Prose of the World: Modernism and the Banality of Empire'' (Columbia University Press & Orient Blackswan, 2013 & 2015)
*''The Middle Finger'' (Simon & Schuster, 2022)

=== Edited works ===
*''The Critic as Amateur'' (Bloomsbury, 2019; co-edited with Aarthi Vadde)
*''Special Issue: American Book Review'' ("Little India")

==References==
<references />

==Further reading==
* [https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/memory-place-conversation-saikat-majumdar/ Interview] with [[Joseph D. Haske]]
* [https://scroll.in/article/915980/writing-my-novel-was-an-artistic-as-well-as-erotic-experience-one-novelist-tells-another Interview] with [[Vivek Shanbhag]]
* [https://www.publicbooks.org/a-playhouse-ready-to-vanishan-interview-with-saikat-majumdar/ Interview] with Keri Walsh
* [https://www.firstpost.com/living/saikat-majumdars-the-scent-of-god-is-queer-fiction-but-its-heteronormative-gaze-says-otherwise-7443741.html Saikat Majumdar's The Scent of God is 'queer fiction'; but its heteronormative gaze says otherwise]" (review) by Chintan Girish Modi in [[Firstpost]]

== External links ==
* [https://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&tbm=bks&sxsrf=ALeKk00a_KOmEsPVTXcTsKUWwq7HXdzNwA:1606496512490&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Saikat+Majumdar%22 Works by Saikat Majumdar] on Google Books

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[[Category:Indian literary critics]]
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