An analysis of the role of the protagonist is central to text interpretation. Providing examples of such analyses, the fourteen articles in this volume deal with the protagonist in mainly 20th century North Indian films and literary texts. Basically, they aim to answer two questions: what techniques have been used by the author (or director) to present a specific protagonist, and what ideas or even ideology may have inspired the author to create that character. The latter question, concerning the view of life or society that has consciously or unconsciously influenced the creator of a South Asian text or film, has occasionally been investigated in the past, too, but here answers are argued on the basis of an analysis of narrative techniques rather than an intuitive approach.Besides a historical survey of protagonists in 20th century Hindi literature, this volume offers detailed discussions of a wide variety of 'heroes' - among them children, aged men, courtesans, women fighting for
