Representation

Abstract

‘Representation’ is one of the most difficult and contentious terms in literary studies. The word refers both to the process by which an artwork depicts the world, and to the dynamic by which people obtain recognition within political systems. Closely related to the second of these definitions is yet a third that is much less commonly examined—namely, the process by which authors first catch the attention of powerful publishing consortia. In this chapter, the literary agent and publisher Sridhar Aghalaya outlines his primary mission, which is not the representation of his clients to publishing houses in the Western world, but rather the demolition of a conservative and caste-bound literary system within India itself.