Smita Das
Dissertation Fellow
Department of English
About
My lecture will examine literary and cultural representations of “coolie” or South Asian indentured labor from 1890-1965. Drawing upon a comparative history of labor migrations, I investigate how early twentieth century writers negotiated the terms of citizenship and national belonging through the figure of the deviant, unruly, or “wandering” indentured subject.
Smita Das is a doctoral candidate in the English Department of the University of Illinois at Chicago working on a dissertation titled “Coolie: Narratives of Race, Labor, and Sexuality.” In addition to studying literary and cultural representations of Asian indentured labor, Smita Das works on Postcolonial Theory, and Labor and Immigration in the United States. Her publications include creative work nominated for Best New American Voices in 2006 and 2007.
Selected Publications
“Coolie: Narratives of Race, Labor, and Sexuality”