ABSTRACT
These two strands of Hindi literature in colonial north Indiaexemplify the contestations and debates in the Hindi literary and public sphere4 on issues like a8lil^ta (obscenity), 8(ngar ras (erotic mood) and sexually coded representations. While both strands did undeniably continue to coexist, that part of this article will show, it is a question as to what extent the former, erotic one made its way into an ‘official’ canon of Hindi literature as exposed in text-books, syllabi or even in Hindi literary histories. This canonised sphere to a large extent purged literature perceived as ‘obscene’. The foundation of this was laid in the colonial period itself, and later literary histories have continued to view erotic Hindi literature in more or less fixed and similar ways.
