Instant Messaging Shiva, Flying Taxis, Bil Klinton and More: Children's Narratives from Rural India

In this article, story (re)productions by children in rural India are seen as a potential tool for addressing current `participatory' issues facing development practitioners. A project was implemented to involve children from a rural village in South India in e-literary storybook productions. The intention was to foster online representations of the rural voice through the lens of the child. Drawing on the material of children's stories, multiple subjectivities are revealed that compel us to reconsider relations of the 'rural' with technology and current social contexts. An analysis of these narratives highlights children's appropriation capabilities as they weave the 'urbanness' and 'global' with the 'rural' fabric, moving beyond the traditional discourse of the urban—rural dichotomy. This effort capitalizes on current theorizations of territory as scapes, making the case to harness children's stories to enlighten the adult, well-intentioned development practitioner who seeks genuine understanding of territory and practice.

(Anke Schwittay)