Discipline of Communication
Staff Profiles – Discipline of Communication
Staff Profiles – Discipline of Communication

Dr. Amit Sarwal

Discipline: Literature

Email: amit.sarwal@usp.ac.fj

Extension number:

Expertise / Activities

  • South Asian Diaspora
  • Postcolonial Literature
  • Translation
  • Cross-cultural relations
  • Indo-Pacific Diplomacy
  • Global Bollywood
  • Internationalisation of Indian Dance
    Creative Writing

Educational Background/ Qualifications
PhD (JNU), MPhil (JNU), MA English (JNU), MBA (Fed Uni), BA (Hons) English (DU)

Biography
Dr Amit Sarwal is Deputy Head of School (Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Affairs) and a senior lecturer at the School of Language, Arts and Media and the Founding Convenor of Australia-India Interdisciplinary Research Network (AIIRN). Before joining USP, Dr Sarwal worked as a Producer at SBS Radio Hindi (2016-2018), Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Deakin University (2016-2017 and 2013-2015), Honorary Associate (Visiting) at RMIT University (2015-2016), Assistant Professor at Delhi University (2007-2012), and a Visiting Researcher at Monash University (2006-2007). Dr Sarwal is an interdisciplinary scholar and translator whose research covers areas in postcolonial literature, migration and diaspora, cross-cultural relations and diplomacy, cinema and media, and international business. His research papers have appeared in prominent international journals such as Asian Ethnicity, Dance Chronicle, Dance Research, Antipodes, South Asian Popular Culture, South Asian Diaspora, Culture, Society & Masculinities, Journalism Studies, and Politics & Policy. He has many books to his credit, prominent being: Wanderings in India (2012), Bollywood and Its Other(s) (2014), Labels and Locations (2015), Salaam Bollywood (2016), South Asian Diaspora Narratives (2017), and The Dancing God: Staging Hindu Dance in Australia (2020).

Research Interests

  • South Asian Diaspora
  • Postcolonial Literature
  • Translation
  • Cross-cultural relations
  • Indo-Pacific Diplomacy
  • Global Bollywood
  • Internationalisation of Indian Dance
  • Creative Writing

Awards

  • Endeavour Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2016-2017)
  • Alfred Deakin Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2013-2015)
  • Endeavour Asia Fellowship (2006-2007)
  • University Grants Commission’s Junior Research Fellowship (2004-2006)

Publications

Selected Books

  • Sarwal, Amit. The Dancing God: Staging Hindu Dance in Australia. London: Routledge, 2020.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2016/2017. South Asian Diaspora Narratives: Roots and Routes (Jaipur: Rawat Publications and Singapore: Springer).
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2015. Labels and Locations: Gender, Family, Class and Caste – The Short Narratives of South Asian Diaspora in Australia (Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing).

Translated Book

Sarwal, Amit, Sarwal, Reema, Gore, Manish Mohan, Nirupam, Saurabh, and Tripathi, Navneet Kumar, trans. 2017. (From English to Hindi) Vyaakul Rashtra: Australia avam Asia ka Uday, 1850-1939 (Delhi: K.K. Publications). [Translation of David Walker’s Anxious Nation: Australia and the Rise of Asia, 1850 to 1939].

Edited Books

  • Sarwal, Amit, ed. 2017. Louise Lightfoot in Search of India: An Australian Dancer’s Experiences. (Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing).
  • Kishore, Vikrant, Sarwal, Amit, and Patra, Parichay, eds. 2016. Salaam Bollywood: Representations and Interpretations (New York: Routledge).
  • Kishore, Vikrant, Sarwal, Amit, and Patra, Parichay, eds. 2014. Bollywood and Its Other(s): Towards New Configurations (London: Palgrave Macmillan).
  • Lowe, David and Sarwal, Amit, eds. 2013. Enriched Relations: Public Diplomacy in Australian-Indian Relations (New Delhi: Readworthy Publishers).
  • Sarwal, Amit, ed. 2013. Bridging Imaginations: South Asian Diaspora in Australia (New Delhi: Readworthy Publishers).
  • Hosking, Rick and Sarwal, Amit, eds. 2012. Wanderings in India: Australian Perceptions (Clayton: Monash University Publishing).
  • Johnson-Woods, Toni and Sarwal, Amit, eds. 2012. Sold by the Millions: Australia’s Bestsellers (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing).
  • B., Geetha and Sarwal, Amit, eds. 2011. Exploring Science Fiction: Text and Pedagogy (New Delhi: SSS Publications).
  • Mycak, Sonia and Sarwal, Amit, eds. 2010. Australian Made: A Multicultural Reader (Sydney: Sydney University Press).
  • Sarwal, Amit and Sarwal, Reema, eds. 2009. Reading Down Under: Australian Literary Studies Reader (New Delhi: SSS Publications).
  • Sarwal, Amit and Sarwal, Reema, eds. 2009. Creative Nation: Australian Cinema and Cultural Studies Reader (New Delhi: SSS Publications).
  • Sarwal, Amit and Sarwal, Reema, eds. 2008. Fact and Fiction: Readings in Australian Literature (New Delhi: Authors Press).
  • Hassam, Andrew and Sarwal, Amit, eds. 2007. Australian Studies Now: An Introductory Reader (New Delhi: Indialog Publications).
  • Paranjape, Makarand, Sarwal, Amit and Rajendran, Aneeta, eds. 2006. English Studies, Indian Perspectives (New Delhi: Mantra Books).

Refereed Journal Articles

  • Sarwal, Amit. 2019. “ ‘Think Imperially’: Indian Journalists’ Goodwill Visits to White Australia, 1927 and 1947.” Asian Ethnicity. dx.doi.org/10.1080/14631369.2019.1608156.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2018     “‘A Kangaroo and Bradman”: Indian journalists’ visit to Australia under the Colombo Plan, 1950–1957.” Journalism Studies. doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2018.1428907.
  • Singh, Amit and Sarwal, Amit. 2017. “Paraspara, Encounters and Confluences: India’s Soft Power Objective in the Indo-Pacific Region.” Politics and Policy 45.5 (October). pp. 733-761.
  • Sarwal, Amit and Walker, David. 2015. “Staging a Cultural Collaboration: Louise Lightfoot and Ananda Shivaram’s First Indian Dance Tour of Australia, 1947-1951.” Dance Chronicle 38.3 (December): pp. 303-35.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2014. “Beyond Home and into the World: Family in the Short Stories of South Asian Diaspora in Australia.” Antipodes 28.2 (December): 306-18.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2014. “Louise Lightfoot and Ibetombi Devi: The Second Manipuri Dance Tour of Australia, 1957.” Dance Research 32.2 (Autumn): pp. 208-32.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2014. “Louise Lightfoot and Rajkumar Priyagopal Singh: The First Manipuri Dance Tour of Australia, 1951.” South Asian Popular Culture 12.2: pp. 89-110.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2013. “Narratives of ‘Marginal’ Men: An Analysis of Selected Short Stories of South Asian Diaspora in Australia.” Culture, Society and Masculinities 5.1 (Spring): pp. 59-74.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2012. “ ‘Element of Romanticization’: Sensory and Spatial Locations in the Narratives of Indian Diaspora in Australia.” New Literature in English, Spl. issue of Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities 4.2 (December): pp. 153-62.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2012. “A Journey through Places: Politics of Spatial Location in the Short Stories of South Asian Diaspora in Australia.” South Asian Diaspora 4.2 (September): pp. 195-213.

Book Chapters

  • Sarwal, Amit. 2018     “Class and Caste Consciousness: The Narratives of Indian Sub-continental Diaspora in Australia.” Indians and the Antipodes: Networks, Boundaries and Circulation. Ed.
  • Sekhar Bandyopadhyay and Jane Buckingham. (New Delhi: Oxford University Press). pp. 254-77.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2016. “Real, Imagined and Mythologised: (Re)presentation of Lost Home in the Narratives of South Asian Diaspora in Australia.” Narratives of Estrangement and Belonging: Indo-Australian Perspectives. Ed. Neelima Kanwar. New Delhi: Authors Press. pp. 221-243.
  • De, Sanchari and Sarwal, Amit. 2016. “Old Wine in a New Bottle: Dreams, Desires and Aspirations in Bollywood Films Shot in Australia.” Salaam Bollywood: Representations and Interpretations. Ed. Vikrant Kishore, Amit Sarwal and Parichay Patra (New York: Routledge). pp.  280-95.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2015. “Modi is the Message: A View from Down Under.” India Election 2014. Ed. Einar Thorsen and Chindu Sreedharan. Bournemouth, UK: Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community at Bournemouth University. pp. 220-224.
  • Prateek and Sarwal, Amit. 2014. “Hinglish Cinema: The Confluence of East and West in Bollywood.” Bollywood and Its Other(s): Towards New Configurations. Ed. Vikrant Kishore, Amit Sarwal, and Parichay Patra (London: Palgrave Macmillan). pp. 161-73.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2013. “South Asian Immigrants, Sports Culture, and Public Diplomacy in Australia.” Enriched Relations: Public Diplomacy in Australian-Indian Relations. Ed. David Lowe and Amit Sarwal (New Delhi: Readworthy Publishers). pp. 122-147.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2013. “ ‘Another World, Another Future’: Narratives of South Asian Diaspora in Australia.” Bridging Imaginations: South Asian Diaspora in Australia. Ed. Amit Sarwal (New Delhi: Readworthy Publishers). pp. 257-81.
  • Sarwal, Amit and Sarwal, Reema. 2011. “ ‘Aussies Go Bolly’: Australian Journeys through Indian Cinemascape.” India and Australia: Bridging Different Worlds. Ed. Auriol Weigold and Brian Stoddart (New Delhi: Readworthy Publishers). pp. 178-95.
  • Sarwal, Amit and Sarwal, Reema. 2009. “Reading Down Under: Australian Literary Studies and India.” Reading Down Under: Australian Literary Studies Reader. Ed. Amit Sarwal and Reema Sarwal (New Delhi: SSS Publications). pp. lix-lxxv.
  • Sarwal, Amit and Sarwal, Reema. 2009. “Creative Nation: Approaching Australian Cinema and Cultural Studies.” Creative Nation: Australian Cinema and Cultural Studies Reader. Ed. Amit Sarwal and Reema Sarwal (New Delhi: SSS Publications). pp. XXVI-XLIX. Rpt. in 2011. Introducing Australian Society and Culture. Ed. Hu Zhuang-lin (Peking: Peking University Press). pp.  174-200.
  • Sarwal, Amit and Sarwal, Reema. 2007. “The Critical Scene: Theory on/from Down Under.” Australian Studies Now: A Reader. Ed. Andrew Hassam with Amit Sarwal (New Delhi: Indialog Publications). pp. 30-47.
  • Sarwal, Amit and Kansal, Reema. 2006. “Okonkwo’s Sacrifice: Through Indian Eyes.” Chinua Achebe: An Anthology of Recent Criticism. Ed. Mala Pandurang (New Delhi: Pencraft International). pp. 97-110.
  • Kansal, Reema and Sarwal, Amit. 2006. “Conflict, Grief and Guilt in The Green Gardener and Other Stories.” The Indian Imagination of Jayanta Mahapatra. Ed. Jaydeep Sarangi and G. S. Jha (New Delhi: Sarup and Sons). pp. 2-13.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2006. “Is there an Indian Film Theory?” English Studies, Indian Perspectives. Ed. Makarand Paranjape, Amit Sarwal and Aneeta Rajendran (New Delhi: Mantra Books). pp. 472-86.
  • Sarwal, Amit and Kansal, Reema. 2006. “Through Australian Eyes: Theory from Down Under.” English Studies, Indian Perspectives. Ed. Makarand Paranjape, Amit Sarwal and Aneeta Rajendran (New Delhi: Mantra Books). pp. 155-68.
  • Sarwal, Amit and Rajendran, Aneeta. 2006. “African Studies.” English Studies, Indian Perspectives. Ed. Makarand Paranjape, Amit Sarwal and Aneeta Rajendran (New Delhi: Mantra Books). pp. 174-93.

Book Reviews

  • Sarwal, Amit. 2016. “Review of Inside Australian Culture: Legacies of Enlightenment Values.” Journal of Association for the Study of Australian Literatures, 16.1: pp. 1.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2015. “Review of Visiting the Neighbours: Australians in Asia.” Journal of Australian Studies, 39.4 (December): pp. 570-72.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2014. “Review of Re-Imagining India and Australia: Culture and Identity.” Australian Institute of International Affairs 9 April.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2010. “Littoral Zone – ‘Where Place Meets Language’ – Review of C. A. Cranston and Robert Zeller, ed. Littoral Zone: Australian Contexts and Their Writers.” The Book Review 34.7 (July).
  • Sarwal, Amit and Sarwal, Reema. 2008. “Sundardas: A Critical Review.” Aṅgarāg: A Journal of Performing and Visual Arts 5 (Spring): pp. 77-82.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2005. “Fulfilling the Imaginative Hunger – Review of Makarand Paranjape’s Partial Disclosure.” Srijan Samvad 4-5 (May): pp. 239-40.

Presentations
Keynote Address

  • Sarwal, Amit. 2017. “International Student Experience.” 2017 Partner Forum, Federation University Australia, Ballarat. 11 December.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2013. “India in Our Lives Today: The 4th ‘C’ in India-Australia Relationship.” International Symposium on “Encounters; India.” Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, Brisbane. 17 May.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2013. “Are We There Yet? Bollywood’s Cultural Diplomacy.” Symposium on “Salaam Cinema: Past, Present and Future – Celebrating 100 Years of Indian Cinema.” The University of Western Australia, Perth. 13 May.

Chair and Panellist

  • Sarwal, Amit. 2016. Round Table on “Soft Power in the Indo-Pacific: Emerging Models and Trends,” Griffith Asia Institute, Brisbane. 18-20 May.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2013. “Session II: Bollywood Collaborations.” Symposium on “Salaam Cinema: Past, Present and Future – Celebrating 100 Years of Indian Cinema.” The University of Western Australia, Perth. 13 May.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2012. “Session 3: Australian Writings – I.” 6th Biennial International Conference on “Australia and India Now: Market Economy, Ethics and Empowerment.” Indian Association for the Study of Australia and Australia-India Council, USI Complex, New Delhi. 19-21 January.

Research Papers

  • Singh, Amit and Sarwal, Amit. 2017. “Paraspara, Encounters and Confluences: India’s Soft Power Objective in the Indo-Pacific Region.” History Seminar Series. Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University, Melbourne. 10 May.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2014. “Louise Lightfoot – In Search of India.” 20th Biennial International Conference on “AsiaScapes: Contesting Borders.” Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA), the University of Western Australia, Perth. 8 July.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2014. “Bollywood’s Australian Yarn.” International Conference on “Screen Explosions: Expanding Practices, Narratives and Education for the Creative Screen Industries.” Australian Screen Production Education and Research Association (ASPERA), University of Newcastle, NSW. 20 June.
  • Prateek and Sarwal, Amit. 2014. “Hinglish Cinema.” International Conference on “Bollywood and Its Other(s).” University of Newcastle, NSW. 21 February.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2013. “ ‘A Pocket Full of Stories’: Caste and Class Consciousness in the Short Narratives of Indian Subcontinental Diaspora in Australia.” International Conference on “Gondwanalandings: Voices of the Emerging Indian Diaspora in Australia.” Australia India Institute (AII), State Library of Victoria, Melbourne. 27 September.
  • Sarwal, Amit and Walker, David. 2013. “ ‘That Man of Yours’: Shivaram’s Sensational Dance Tour of Australia, 1947-51.” International Conference on “Staging Changes: Translation as Innovation and Intervention.” Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies (ADSA), Flinders University, Adelaide, SA. 10 July.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2013. “Re-imagining and Re-mapping the Politics of Class Locations: A Study of Short Narratives of South Asian Diaspora in Australia.” CCG Lunchtime Seminar Series 2013. Centre for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University, Australia. 21 March.
  • Sarwal, Amit and Sarwal, Reema. 2012. “Exploring Science Fiction: Pedagogical Experiences at University of Delhi.” International Conference on “Science Communication for Scientific Temper.” NISCAIR, CSIR, VP and NCSTC, NASC Complex, Pusa, Delhi. 10-12 January.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2011. “An Australian Learning Experience: Literature, Sports, and Diplomacy,” International Conference on “Public Diplomacy in Theory and Practice: Culture, Information and Interpretation in Australian-Indian Relations.” Alfred Deakin Research Institute (Deakin University) and the Department of English, Rajdhani College (University of Delhi), India International Centre, New Delhi. 8-9 April.
  • Sarwal, Amit and Sarwal, Reema. 2010. “Bollywood’s Scariest Import: Bob Christo,” International Workshop on “Enriched Relations: Cultural Diplomacy in Australian-Indian Relations – Past, Present and Prospective.” Alfred Deakin Research Institute (Deakin University), Hotel le Meridian, Janpath, New Delhi. 2 December.
  • Sarwal, Amit and Sarwal, Reema. 2010. “ ‘Aussies Go Bolly’: Australian Journeys through Indian Cinemascape.” International Conference on “Australian Studies: Indian Perspectives.” Centre for English Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India. 28-29 October.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2010. “Forever India: Negotiating Australia in the Short Stories of Indian Diaspora,” 5th International Conference on “India and Australia: Negotiating Change.” Indian Association for the Study of Australia (IASA), Australia-India Council (AIC), Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and Goa University, Goa, India. 18-21 January.

Opinion Pieces and Radio Features

  • Sarwal, Amit. 2017. “Hindi vs English: The document that changed India.” SBS Radio Hindi, Australia. 2 May.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2017. “The Australian films that inspired Bollywood.” SBS 27 April.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2017. “Fake ‘Indian doctors’ in Australia: a brief history.” SBS 20 April.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2016. “How India’s most iconic 90s pop star gained viral fame in the West.” SBS Radio Hindi, Australia. 20 December.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2016. “Don’t shy away from speaking Hindi.” SBS Radio Hindi, Australia. 30 June.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2016. “The Cost of Coal.” Original Feature. SBS Radio Hindi, Australia. 16 March.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2016. “JNU demands freedom.” Original Feature. SBS Radio Hindi, Australia. 27 February.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2016. “Barramundi, the queen of freshwater.” Original Feature. SBS Radio Hindi, Australia. 13 February.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2016. “I am Nakusa, India’s unwanted girl child.” Original Feature.  SBS Radio Hindi, Australia. 1 February.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2014. “An Indian-Australian Affair: The Passion of Louise Lightfoot.” Asian Currents 30 September.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2014. “Melbourne’s Indian Film Festival Needs to Strengthen Its Ties.” The Conversation 2 May.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2014. “A View to Lead India: Who are the Candidates?” The Conversation 19 March.
  • Sarwal, Amit. 2014. “Bollywood and Australia: Worth making a Song and Dance about,” The Conversation 19 February.

 

Featured Expert and Press Coverage

  • “India mourns Bollywood’s ‘first female superstar’ Sridevi.” Episode 41. Interviewed by Gemma Breen. ABC News 24. 26 February 2018.
  • “Summer Mornings.” Interviewed by Marc Fennell. ABC Radio National. 5 January 2017.
  • “A new book exploring Kathakali and its cultural ties between India and Australia.” Interviewed by Delys Paul. SBS Malayalam Radio. 11 December 2016.
  • “Salaam Bollywood: A new interpretation of Hindi Cinema!” Interviewed by Jitarth Jai Bhardwaj. SBS Hindi Radio. 22 September 2016.
  • “‘Untouchables’ amongst Us.” Interviewed by Raymond Selvaraj and Kulasegaram Sanchayan. SBS Radio. 7 August 2015.
  • “Prejudice, even in Pardes.” Interviewed by Anahita Mukherji. Times of India 30 November 2014.
  • “Earliest Indian Students in Australia.” Interviewed by Kumud Merani. SBS Radio Hindi, Australia. 12 May 2014.
  • “Third Force may be Kingmaker in Indian Election,” Interviewed by Eleanor Hall. The World Today, ABC Radio, Australia. 8 April 2014.
  • “Knight and Dame Awards.” Interviewed by Savita Soni. SBS Radio Hindi, Australia. 5 April 2014.
  • “Indian Elections – Main Issues.” Interviewed by Kumud Merani. SBS Radio Hindi, Australia. 3 April 2014.
  • “Overwhelming Indian Elections!” Interviewed by Kumud Merani. SBS Radio Hindi, Australia. 3 April 2014.
  • “India Votes.” Interviewed by Amanda Vanstone. Counterpoint, ABC Radio National, Australia, 31 March 2014.
  • “Elections in India.” Interviewed by Stan Grant. SKY News, Australia. 27 March 2014.
  • “The Indian Prince Who Danced to Australia,” Interviewed by Kumud Merani. SBS Radio Hindi, Australia. 30 January 2014.
  • “Australia Day 2014: What does India want to know about Australia?” Interviewed by Shivali Nayak. Australia Network News. 21 January 2014.
  • “Louise Lightfoot – In Search of India.” Interviewed by Kumud Merani. SBS Radio Hindi, Australia. 5 November 2013.
  • “Wanderings in India; Australian Perceptions.” Interviewed by Kumud Merani, SBS Radio, Australia. 24 February 2013.