Paper short abstract:

Using Marathi plays written in the 1890s, the paper attempts to understand how the perceptions of modernity available for public consumption shaped up the contemporary public discourse about colonialism, modernity and tradition.

Paper long abstract:

The paper hopes

1. To review the manifestations of the concept of modernity in Popular plays in Maharashtra in the late nineteenth century

2. To investigate the "remedies" suggested for making or unmaking of Modernity

3. To identify the perceptions about essential and peripheral aspects of Modernity in Popular Culture

4. To compare the various Utopian visions of a Modern Society in contemporary Culture

5. To evaluate if and how the perceptions of modernity available for public consumption shaped up the contemporary public discourse about colonialism, modernity and tradition.

A number of manifestations of the concept of modernity in Popular Culture in Maharashtra in the late nineteenth century are emerging from this study. The texts under study have suggested some "remedies" for making or unmaking of Modernity as they have understood it. It is evident that different authors have different perceptions about essential and peripheral aspects of Modernity. Various Utopian visions of a Modern Society in contemporary Popular Culture are being compared. The data so far gathered seem to be confirming the hypothesis that perceptions of modernity available for public consumption shaped up the contemporary public discourse about colonialism, modernity and tradition.