‘Offensive’ writing: Sex and prostitution in the works by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar

This article considers some works by the Santhal author Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar in light of the fierce critiques they attracted. Against the accusation of pornographic and offensive writing, I maintain not only that the criticism Shekhar’s works received is unjustified (something that has also been claimed by others), but also that it is symptomatic of a mood with its roots in the West that has spread all over the world. I argue that behind this kind of criticism lies the imposition of identity politics on literary works on one side, and the contemporary concern with political correctness on the other. Further, I also show that despite the progressive agenda such a criticism wants to represent and defend, it ends up producing regressive implications. Shekhar’s case appears thus to be particularly enlightening in showing the limits of identity politics and political correctness in literary criticism.