The fact that for many Western specialists, a center-periphery approach (where the Western tradition is used to anchor comparative forays into the non-Western) still enjoys a degree of primacy (2) underlines the value of reading across non-Western cultures without necessarily having to travel through London, Paris or New York. This essay suggests a South-South-South approach as one possible means of redressing this imbalance, and structures of haunting and spectrality as an ideal lens through which to embark upon a re-centered comparativism. Present anthologies provide an even more bitter taste: the 2013 edition of Norton Anthology of World Literature allots just over 500 of its 1800 pages to non-Western literatures (in a world where non-Western countries make up 90% of the planet). Past anthologies are disappointing: Queneau's three-volume history of literature (1958), which gave India and China two hundred and seventy pages in the final volume, or Hans Meyer's Weltliteratur, which made no mention of non-European literature at all (Fokkema 1290-91). As far as anthologies go, these allegations are difficult to deny. But it tells that story through the distinct lens of a Sikh, Punjabi immigrant family – a demographic that has rarely been depicted with nuance and complexity on screen.Whatever one understands by the term "World Literature"-whether it is a pedagogy (Damrosch), a new period of fiction, a school of theory (Moretti 55) or a global franchise (Apter 17)-the allegations of Eurocentrism or an overtly Western-centered approach leveled against it continue to grow. It’s an exploration of messy family dynamics, compassion, forgiveness and self-discovery. “Donkeyhead” is at once universal and specific. But she’s also reckoning with the fact that when her father dies, she might finally be forced to confront her aimless existence. In doing so, Mona is trying to prove to her father that she’s more than the “donkeyhead” he sees her as. As much as it is an insult, it’s also a term of endearment.”īut Mona is also the one who stayed behind to care for their father after his cancer diagnosis – despite the abuse she experienced at his hands when she was a child. “ would call me donkey every time I would do something stupid. And it comes through in the child-rearing,” Darshi explained. “Sikh Punjabis obviously really love their kids, but they can be rough. The title "Donkeyhead" is a reference to a common Punjabi insult and term of endearment. Put another way, Mona is the “donkeyhead” of the family. To top it all off, she’s having an affair with a married man. Her writing career is in shambles after she failed to turn in her book draft. She resists religious convention, pushing back when her aunt wants to host three days of continuous Sikh prayers at the family home. In “Donkeyhead,” Mona is the black sheep of the family – the only one of her siblings who doesn’t appear to have it all together. But instead of their cultures taking center stage, the characters grapple with stagnation and subvert cultural expectations – challenging the model minority trope in the process. When he falls into a coma, Mona starts to unravel and her three siblings show up to handle things.īoth films, which were recently acquired by Ava DuVernay’s distribution company Array, tell stories about children of Indian immigrants (Bengali Hindus in “Definition Please” and Sikh Punjabis in “Donkeyhead”). It follows Mona (played by Darshi), a failing writer in her mid-30s who is living in her childhood home in Canada with her ailing Sikh father. The question of how to move forward is also at the center of “Donkeyhead,” a film from English-Canadian director Agam Darshi that is also now on Netflix. Analysis: Creators of color, your time in Hollywood is now
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