Another India: The construction of modern Odiya identity
Dr S.K. Behera
Monday 21st November 2011
Dr Subhakanta Behera was recently appointed Consul General of India in Melbourne. He is a graduate of Jawaharlal Nehru University and holds a doctorate from Oxford University. He began his career in Moscow and worked in various capacities in Indian missions in Tashkent, Sofia and Washington D.C. He also worked as Under Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Director and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi at different points of time; served as Secretary to the Government of Odisha and as the President, Board of Secondary Education, Odisha, and headed the Policy Planning and Research Division in the Ministry of External Affairs. Dr Behera has published six story collections, two poetry anthologies and three essay collections in Odia apart from an English novel (The Mahanadi Dream, Indialog, New Delhi). His academic publications include Oxford D.Phil. monograph “Construction of an Identity Discourse” (2001), “Rethinking the Orissan Past: Society, Culture and Religion” (2010), and numerous articles in national and international journals. He is also a regular columnist for both Odia and English dailies.
In the post-colonial world, identity issue has moved to centre stage in any narrative on a group or community. India is a nation state consisting of well defined nationalities, and Odia is one among them. This presentation focused on an understanding of Odia identity on the basis of two important identity markers, i.e. Odia literature and the Jagannath cult.
Dr Behera showed how Odia identity was constructed and construed during the period 1866-1936, but did not confine the discussion to this historical period alone, moving back and forth in order to show continuity and provide historical perspective on the subject. It also attempted to locate Odia identity discourse within the broad discourse on India and being Indian.
This paper was based on research undertaken at the University of Oxford under a Commonwealth Research Award.