It is rare to encounter a necessary book. Yet here it is. This book goes to the heart of a provocative thesis: the role of violence in the formation of Sikh identity and its impact, through historical, social and political forces, on Sikhs. A study of profound moments of misunderstandings and lost opportunities, this powerful work is a tour de force exemplar of how to examine communities marked by colonization, fear, elision, invisibility, and mystery without falling into the trap of reductionism. Nuances of class, gender, race, sex, and sexuality are brought to the fore, with many once-silenced Sikh womens voices coming forth, and so, too, the complex dynamics of the internal diversity of Sikhs and the wider worlds in which they live. The result is a portrait of postcolonial challenges reaching beyond the focus community to worldwide challenges of our epoch. A must-read not only for those interested in Sikh and postcolonial studies but also anyone interested in understanding engendered violence in multidimensional ways. Read this book. Re-read it. Learn from it, and share its fecund ideas.
Lewis R. Gordon, Honorary President of the Global Center for Advanced Studies
This book provides an eloquent self-awareness and a rare glimpse into the complexities of Sikh identity. It is a remarkable addition to the oeuvre of a respected and leading postcolonial scholar. Singh highlights the predicament of Sikh women within the Indian and global Sikh community concomitant with the violence that Sikhs, particularly the turbaned and bearded males, encounter as represented in historical and contemporary literature and culture. The book analyzes representations of male Sikhs, often feminized and othered as hypermasculine, who struggle to construct a positive identity for themselves and their community in India and the diaspora, while female Sikhs, rendered invisible or voiceless, strive to negotiate empowering identities for themselves in liminal cultural and narrative spaces. Singhs intersectional critique is courageous and innovative as she excavates personal and historical occurrences of trauma to revise, resist and renegotiate memories for empowering personal and communal identities for Sikhs. The books emotional and impassioned power once again demonstrates Singhs extraordinary scholarly gifts.
Rajendra Chetty, Professor, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
