"The Audacious Raconteur tells the story of how between 1868 and 1930, four unknown Indian raconteurs, who were political subjects of a colonial regime, audaciously claimed sovereignty through their rambunctious storytelling and put empire in its place"--

Introduction: "That Acre of Ground"
1. The Ruse of Colonial Modernity: Anna Liberata de Souza
2. The History of the English Empire as a Fall: P. V. Ramaswami Raju
3. The Subjective Scientific Method: M. N. Venkataswami
4. The Irony of the "Native Scholar": S. M. Natesa Sastri
Conclusion: The Sovereign Self

Leela Prasad is Professor of Ethics and Religious Studies at Duke University. She is the award-winning author of Poetics of Conduct and the codirector of the film Aftertones. Follow her on X @ProfLeelaPrasad.