Dr. Banerjee is an academic and a writer based in Bengal, India. She has an M.A in English from the University of Burdwan, where she graduated with a First in the First Class. Her Ph.D–on the dialectic of science and gender in the speculative fiction of Mary Shelley and Margaret Atwood–was earned in 2009 from the IIT Bombay, a top-tier institute in India.

Banerjee won a Fulbright ‘Scholar-in-Residence’ award for Purdue University Northwest in 2019-20 and was awarded a UGC-Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) through the national-level NET examination in December 1998. Banerjee has more than a decade’s experience of teaching at full-time government-sector positions in West Bengal, India.

Contact Details

Email:[email protected]
LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/in/writersuparna

Dr. Suparna Banerjee,
Faculty, Department of English,
Krishnath College (affiliated to Kalyani University),
Berhampore,
West Bengal, India.

Research and Teaching interests.

Banerjee’s interests include transnational feminism and gender issues, especially in the Indian context, speculative/fantastic fiction by women writers, Black-American women’s writing, and democratic state politics with a special emphasis on the Indian set-up. At present, she is planning a monograph on the socio-political thought of Rabindranath Tagore, for which she has an offer of publication from a reputed international publishing house.

Publications:

Banerjee’s scholarly publications have been on the interface of literature and Women’s Studies. These include her monograph, ‘Science, Gender and History: The Fantastic in Mary Shelley and Margaret Atwood, a well-endorsed and widely reviewed book. Banerjee has also published nine articles and book reviews in reputed, peer-reviewed international scholarly journals.

Apart from her scholarly work, Banerjee has also published around 45 articles and reviews in leading Indian national dailies, including, chiefly, ‘Hindustan Times’ and ‘The Hindu’. In her columns, she has dealt with aspects of gender dynamics and politics and parliamentary democracy in India. She consistently reviewed serious non-fiction for ‘The Hindu’ from 2013 to 2020 and did a series of lead articles for the ‘Literary Review’ of ‘The Hindu’ over 2016-17.

Some of her best work can be seen on her Contributor Page at ‘The Hindu’ here:https://www.thehindu.com/profile/contributor/Suparna-Banerjee-2020/. Her posts on her blog-spot on ‘Times of India’ can be read here:https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/author/suparnabanerjee/. She has also written for the UK based online magazine ‘openDemocracy.net’:https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/author/suparna-banerjee/.

List of (Select) Publications:

A. SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS:

1. BOOK: Science, Gender and History: The Fantastic in Mary Shelley and Margaret Atwood (Cambridge Scholars, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, Dec. 2014). ISBN-10: 1443862207; ISBN-13: 9781443862202.

[Link to the book’s review in Science Fiction Studies: https://www.depauw.edu/sfs/birs/bir128.html . The book was REVIEWED positively by 07 reputed journals: Science Fiction Studies, English Studies, Journal of International Women’s Studies, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, The Hindu, Indian Journal of Gender Studies, and Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal. It was endorsed by Prof. Veronica Hollinger, Trent Univ.; Prof. Diana Fox, Bridgewater State Univ; Prof. Lorraine York, McMaster University.]

2. Articles and Book Reviews in peer-reviewed, indexed, international journals (chronological):

i. Banerjee, Suparna. 2010. “Beyond Biograpy: Re-reading Gender in Mary Shelley’s The Last Man”. English Studies: A Journal of English Language and Literature (Taylor & Francis) 91, 5: 519-30. (Aug. 2010). [ISSN: 0013-838X (Print), 1744-4217(Online)].URL:<http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0013838X.2010.488842.].

ii. Banerjee, Suparna. 2010. ‘On Jhumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of Maladies”’. The Literary Encyclopedia (based at Oxford Univ and UEA, UK). 09.02.2010. ISSN: 1747-678X. http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID==25331

iii. Banerjee, Suparna. 2011. “Home is Where Mamma is: Re-framing the Science Question in Frankenstein”. Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal (Taylor & Francis) 40, 1: 1-22. (Jan. 2011). ISSN: 0049-7878 (Print); 1547-7045 (online).https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0013838X.2010.488842

iv. Banerjee, Suparna. 2013. “Towards Feminist Mothering: Oppositional Maternal Practice in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake.” Journal of International Women’s Studies. 14 (1), 236-47. (Feb 21, 2013). http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol14/iss1/14 ISSN 1539-8706.; Journal of International Women’s Studies is edited at Bridgewater State Univ.

v. Review of Peter Robb’s Sentiment and Self: Richard Blechynden’s Calcutta Diaries (OUP) Indian Journal of Gender Studies (Sage), 20(1), 161–164. (February 2013). [ISSN: 0971-5215 (Print); 0973-0672 (Online)] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0971521512466004

vi. Review of Gita Hariharan’s I have become the Tide (Simon & Schuster) for ‘Wasafiri’ (Vol 35, issue 1; Feb.2020).ISSN: 0269-0055 (print) 1747-1508 (web) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02690055.2020.1683322

vii. Review of Bashabi Fraser’s Rabindranath Tagore (London, Reaktion). Transnational Literature (Bath Spa Univ, UK; ISSN: 1836-4845). 12.11.2020. https://www.transnationallitsubmissions.org/index.php/trace/article/view/190/48

viii. Review of Shahnaz Ahsan’s Hashim and Family (John Murray): Wasafiri (Vol 36, issue 3; August 2021.) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02690055.2021.1918459 ISSN: 0269-0055 (print) 1747-1508 (web). [Wasafiri is published by ‘Taylor and Francis’ and is edited at the Queen’s Mary University of London.]

ix. Review of Stefan Lampadius’ The Human Future? Artificial Humans and Evolution in Anglophone Science Fiction of the 20th Century in Science Fiction Studies, #146= Vol 49, part 1, March 2022. 183-184. (DePauw Univ, Indiana, USA; ISSN: 0091-7729).https://www.depauw.edu/sfs/birs/bir146.html#lampadius . 10.1353/sfs.2022.0014.

B. SELECTED COLUMNS:

Below is a representative selection from among a substantial body of writings published over 2012-2023:

1. Selected Articles on Literary Icons (from among 12):

i. Article on the centenary of Tagore’s Nobel for ‘Gitanjali’ as the lead story in ‘Literary Review’ of ‘The Hindu’ (May 18, 2013).https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/simple-and- sublime/article12139853.ece

ii. Article on the occasion of the 400th death anniversary of William Shakespeare as the lead
story in ‘Literary Review’ of The Hindu (24.04.16).
http://www.thehindu.com/books/literary-review/suparna-banerjee-on-shakespearesrelevance- 400-years-after-his-demise/article8508895.ece

iii. Article on Tagore as the cover-story in ‘Literary Review’ of The Hindu “And Still he Speaks” (07.08.16) https://www.thehindu.com/books/literary-review/suparna-banerjee-on-tagore-75- years-after-his-death/article14553181.ece

iv. Article on Toni Morrison and democracy published on her 1st death anniversary on UK based online magazine‘openDemocracy.net’ (05.08.2020).https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/what-its-like-in-the-dark-places-toni-morrison-black- feminism-and-democracy-today/

2. Selected articles on political and gender-political themes (from among 15):

i. Wonen’s Day article on the significance of ‘sisterhood’ for global gender equity in ‘Hindustan Times’ (08.03.2023). . https://www.hindustantimes.com/ht-insight/gender-equality/bonding-and-banding- together-to-create-planet-5050-101678247709859-amp.html

ii. Article on the political abuse of the ‘Rajya Sabha’ in Hindustan Times’ (13.02.14). https://www.hindustantimes.com/ht-view/a-saga-of-blatant-political-opportunism/story-OCrsFfddPQRMwpKMDlKFhI.html

iii. Article on the implications of death for rape in ‘The Telegraph’ (12.06.14). https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/the-horror-of-body-politics/cid/177500

iv. Article on the current state of Indian democracy in ‘Seminar”(July 2012).https://www.indiahttps://www.indiaseminar.com/2012/635/635_comment.htmseminar.com/2 012/635/635_comment.htm

v. Article in ‘The Hindu’ on women’s work participation in an international context: “To Lean in or Not”(12.04.13).www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/to-lean-in-or- not/article4608612.ece

3.Selected book reviews (from among 13):

i. Review of David Cannadine’s Victorious Century (Penguin) (28.04.2018) https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-reviews/victorious-century-18001906-the-united- kingdom-review-fresh-perspective/article23699676.ece

ii. Review of Deepti Misri’s Beyond Partition: Gender, Violence and Representation in Postcolonial India (Illinois UP) in The Hindu (13.02.16). “A History of Violence”: https://www.thehindu.com/books/literary-review/suparna-banerjee-reviews-deepti-misris- beyond-partition/article14077354.ece

iii. Review of Capital Accumulation and Women’s Labour in Asian Economies by Peter Custers (London: Zed) in The Hindu (09.03.15). https://www.thehindu.com/books/books- reviews/capital-accumulation-womens-labour-in-asian-economies-by-peter-custers- review/article10716304.ece

iv. Review of Rachel Holmes’ Eleonor Marx: A Life (Bloomsbury) for The Hindu (06.10.014).https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-reviews/book-review-gandhis-clinging-disciple/article10633442.ece/amp/

v. Review of Aiyaz Hussain’s Mapping the End of Empire (Harvard UP) (01.07.014). https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-reviews/geography-and-global- order/article11247655.ece

vi. Review of Ananya Vajpeyi’s Righteous Republic: The Political Foundations of Modern Indi (Harvard UP) in ‘The Hindu’ (08.04.13): “Philosophical Bases of India’s Political Superstructure.’http://www.thehindu.com/books/books-reviews/philosophical-bases-of-indias- politicalsuperstructures/article4595403.ece

4. Sample blog-posts on ‘Times of India’:

i. On the contemporary relevance of Tagore’s political vision (10.05.2021): The Pandemic and the Poet’ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/mirror-and-a-lamp/the-pandemic-and-the-poet-the-relevance-of-rabindranath-tagores-political-vision-to-the-world-of-today/

ii. On the socio-economic implications of the Covid-19 lockdown: “Divided we Die: What a Pandemic Tells a Nation.’ (19.04.2020). https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/mirror-and-a- lamp/divided-we-die-what-a-pandemic-tells-a-nation/

iii. On the politico-cultural legacy of Swami Vivekananda: ‘Revisiting the Legacy of Swami Vivekananda: Hinduism against Hindutva.’ (12.01.19). https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/mirror-and-a-lamp/revisiting-the-legacy-of-swami-vivekananda-hinduism-against-hindutva/

CURRENT WORK:

As an Affiliate Research Fellow at the Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies (ScoTs), Banerjee is working on a monograph with the tentative title, ‘Beyond “Gitanjali”: the Political Vision of Rabindranath Tagore and its Relevance Today’. This will be an accessible and analytical exposition of the political thought of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, highlighting the timeliness and the human worth of his ideal of globalist humanism and the modern day significance of his social vision. Banerjee’s work will be mentored by Prof. Bashabi Fraser, Professor Emerita at Edinburgh-Napier University and Director of ScoTs.

Synopsis of current project:

For the said work Banerjee will study Rabindranath Tagore with a focus on his political thought, aiming to bring out the renewed relevance to our world of his reflections on culture, society, and politics—national and global. Going beyond his overriding international reputation as a spiritually inclined poet, she will highlight his keen intellectual engagement with issues such as political sovereignty, social equity, the conflict and confluence of cultures, and the global impact of nineteenth century British imperialism. While being mindful of the differences between Tagore’s times and the present day reality, Banerjee will draw out the contemporary valence of his analyses of the dangers incident to the excesses of nationalism and the nation state.

A part of Banerjee’s probe into Tagore’s thoughts on (ultra)nationalism will be an examination of his nuanced perception of the role of the nation state in effecting public welfare in a country. Moving along this trajectory, she will plunge into an exploration of the many facets of the poet-thinker’s thoughts on social justice and national development. In this context, she will dwell at some length on Tagore’s unique, almost non-denominational concept of religion, aiming to show how this ideal of the ‘Religion of Man’ was related to his vision of a just society—one that would enable the higher humanity inherent in every individual to blossom.

Subsequent to the recent pandemic that highlighted the existing global socio-economic inequalities, and in the context of the ongoing global conflicts, the urgent need for socio-political harmony has come to the fore. In this scenario, Tagore’s inclusive humanism, and his emphasis on inter-ethnic, transnational amity stand freshly vindicated. Banerjee’s explorations of Tagore’s multi-faceted socio-political vision will highlight its supreme human worth and its abiding significance. At the end of this research, she will have projected Tagore as an outstanding thought leader and an icon of global democracy whose time is now.