Salman Rushdie, Michael Ondaatje and V.S. Naipaul are just three South Asian writers to receive critical acclaim in recent years. This encyclopedia covers topics related to literature written in English by authors who were either born in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka, or who identify themselves with that region. The 138 alphabetically arranged entries cover novelists (53 of them), novels (32), poets, dramatists, cinematic adaptations, short story writers, themes, genres, literary movements, and critical terms. (The blurb's “several hundred” entries is grossly inaccurate!)
The entries cover some two or three pages each and give good coverage of their subjects. With 69 contributors, the style varies a little, but none is so bad as the editor, who in her preface writes: “[…] to expose the points of collision that mark the exegesis of hybrid construction” and “The South Asian experience imagined in English rehearses numerous salient characteristics”. A spell on a library enquiry desk would soon cure her of such contorted English! In fact, the reasons she gives for the growth of South Asian literature are, despite the awkward prose style, well made. However, it is probably only conscientious reviewers that read prefaces to reference books: users who dive straight into the A/Z sequence in search of the Imperial Myth, A House for Mr Biswis, The Satanic Verses, or Upamanyu Chatterjee, should have no difficulty.
I found the double‐column page layouts awkward, for with only five or six words a line and a plethora of hyphens, the reading experience was physically trying, but otherwise the encyclopedia works well enough. Features include a chronology, some maps of the area (rather grey), a sprinkling of photographs, further readings attached to entries, a Selected Bibliography (divided into 39 anthologies, 82 secondary sources and a useful list of 24 periodicals), an index, and notes on the editor and contributors.
On occasions I have been critical of US publishers and their cavalier use of the phrases “Asian” and “Eastern” when applied to countries east of Europe, so it was a pleasure to see the phrase “South Asian” used here. This phrase has gained general currency in the UK where the rapid growth of things Indian/Pakistani, etc. has been a cultural phenomenon of massive importance. And as a consequence this work should be of value to reference and academic libraries. From The Mystic Masseur (Naipaul) and My Beautiful Laundrette (Kureishi) to Moonlight into Marzipan (Gupta), we welcome this smartly produced book.
