The Mahatma Misunderstood

A study of the fiction about Gandhi produced in his lifetime that explains why novelists both vehemently critiqued and lovingly collaborated with the Mahatma simultaneously.

“The Mahatma Misunderstood” is a study of the fiction about Gandhi produced in his lifetime, and explains why novelists both vehemently critiqued and lovingly collaborated with the Mahatma simultaneously.

“The Mahatma Misunderstood” studies the relationship between the production of novels in late-colonial India and nationalist agitation promoted by the Indian National Congress. The volume examines the process by which novelists who were critically engaged with Gandhian nationalism, and who saw both the potentials and the pitfalls of Gandhian political strategies, came to be seen as the Mahatma’s standard-bearers rather than his loyal opposition.