The Indian Diary of Vera Luboshinsky (1938-1945)
Vera Luboshinsky
The Indian Diary of Vera Luboshinsky (1938-1945)
Vera Luboshinsky
Hardback / bound
|
English
€142.50
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Description
The Indian Diary of Vera Luboshinsky narrates life at the Indian princely court of Bhopal during the 1940s. Vera was the daughter of Professor M. J. Herzenstein, a member of the State Duma in pre-revolutionary Russia, and married to Count Mark Luboshinsky.
The Indian Diary of Vera Luboshinsky is a creative, lively, and often irreverent account of wartime India, narrated by a Russian émigrée from Czechoslovakia navigating multiple worlds and possibilities as she and her husband sought their livelihood in princely Bhopal. The elegant translation in this book is framed by a rich introduction and careful editorial work to make a unique voice accessible to history. Replete with social, cultural, and political observations, it is a compelling work inviting exploration by historians of Princely states first and foremost, but also any reader interested in the multitude of themes discussed -- from marriage rituals, employment practices, and leisure activities to food, education, and spirituality.
The authors skilfully edited and beautifully translated the diaries of Vera Luboshinsky from Russian, allowing access to a rare non-Anglophone, non-male gaze in high colonial India. It is a series of astute sketches of India, details at the court in the Princely state of Bhopal, and vignettes of colonial society. These are seamlessly strung together in this work, which may only be called a memoir in the most liberal sense. Written in crisp language, the text retains the complex tone of awe, irony, privilege, and sympathy for various characters through the book. An absolute must-read for all interested in colonial history, particularly of the Princely state of Bhopal, but also for those interested in the quirky destinies of individuals, and manuscripts!
Vera Luboshinsky (1897-1978) was a Russian lawyer and writer. Emigrating to Czechoslovakia after the Bolshevik coup and Mark's subsequent friendship with Hamidullah Khan, the Nawab of Bhopal, gave Vera the chance to live in one of India's most prominent princely states from 1938 to 1945. Fascinated by life in Bhopal, Vera was inspired to write her 'Indian Diary'. After returning from India to Czechoslovakia, Vera and Mark lived under another Communist power takeover. Vera's life ended in obscurity with no hope of returning to her earlier fortune. Dušan Deák is Associate Professor at the Department of Comparative Religion, Comenius University in Bratislava. His research focuses on the social and religious history of Western India, and on the reception of Indian ideas and practices in Central Europe. Rowenna Baldwin obtained her PhD in Sociology in 2011 from the University of Warwick. Her thesis focused on patriotic education in Russia and she has spent time teaching and researching there. Since 2016, Rowenna has been training in the field of documentary filmmaking and now works as an independent filmmaker.
The Indian Diary of Vera Luboshinsky is a creative, lively, and often irreverent account of wartime India, narrated by a Russian émigrée from Czechoslovakia navigating multiple worlds and possibilities as she and her husband sought their livelihood in princely Bhopal. The elegant translation in this book is framed by a rich introduction and careful editorial work to make a unique voice accessible to history. Replete with social, cultural, and political observations, it is a compelling work inviting exploration by historians of Princely states first and foremost, but also any reader interested in the multitude of themes discussed -- from marriage rituals, employment practices, and leisure activities to food, education, and spirituality.
The authors skilfully edited and beautifully translated the diaries of Vera Luboshinsky from Russian, allowing access to a rare non-Anglophone, non-male gaze in high colonial India. It is a series of astute sketches of India, details at the court in the Princely state of Bhopal, and vignettes of colonial society. These are seamlessly strung together in this work, which may only be called a memoir in the most liberal sense. Written in crisp language, the text retains the complex tone of awe, irony, privilege, and sympathy for various characters through the book. An absolute must-read for all interested in colonial history, particularly of the Princely state of Bhopal, but also for those interested in the quirky destinies of individuals, and manuscripts!
Vera Luboshinsky (1897-1978) was a Russian lawyer and writer. Emigrating to Czechoslovakia after the Bolshevik coup and Mark's subsequent friendship with Hamidullah Khan, the Nawab of Bhopal, gave Vera the chance to live in one of India's most prominent princely states from 1938 to 1945. Fascinated by life in Bhopal, Vera was inspired to write her 'Indian Diary'. After returning from India to Czechoslovakia, Vera and Mark lived under another Communist power takeover. Vera's life ended in obscurity with no hope of returning to her earlier fortune. Dušan Deák is Associate Professor at the Department of Comparative Religion, Comenius University in Bratislava. His research focuses on the social and religious history of Western India, and on the reception of Indian ideas and practices in Central Europe. Rowenna Baldwin obtained her PhD in Sociology in 2011 from the University of Warwick. Her thesis focused on patriotic education in Russia and she has spent time teaching and researching there. Since 2016, Rowenna has been training in the field of documentary filmmaking and now works as an independent filmmaker.