Space and public memory in the neoliberal city

In this anthropological history, Mary E. Hancock examines the politics of public memory in the southern Indian city of Chennai. Once a colonial port, Chennai is now poised to become a center for India's "new economy" of information technology, export processing, and back-office services. State and local governments promote tourism and a heritage-conscious cityscape to make Chennai a recognizable "brand" among investment and travel destinations. Using a range of textual, visual, architectural, and ethnographic sources, Hancock grapples with the question of how people in Chennai remember and represent their past, considering the political and economic contexts and implications of those memory practices. Working from specific sites, including a historic district created around an ancient Hindu temple, a living history museum, neo-traditional and vernacular architecture, and political memorials, Hancock examines the spatialization of memory under the conditions of neoliberalism.

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. . . a major contribution to an underexamined field. . . . [T]his book is . . . a formidable effort at comprehending the industries of cultural heritage in India as they confront and negotiate our contemporary world.May 2009

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Hancock reintroduced me to the city and to a way of thinking about the secular, the state, and the religious that made me see my experiences of Chennai anew. The book will remain a serious contribution to the discussion of memory, of the complex contours of the secular and the religious, of the construction of spaces, and of the wobbly world of history.November 2012

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[This] book makes a significant contribution to memory studies not only because it offers a theoretically informed and empirically rich analysis, but also because it reflects a deep and insightful engagement with the popular culture of Chennai.