Professor (Dr.) Arup K. Chatterjee’s scholarship has been cited in the Wikipedia entry for Mullingar Mansion (Mussoorie).
The article in question — “Ruskin Bond’s Haunted Architecture: Anglo‑Saxon Archetypes of the Doon Valley” (Anglo Saxonica, 19 February 2021) — explores the recurring architectural motifs, cultural memories, and spectral geographies that shape Ruskin Bond’s fiction set in Mussoorie and the Doon Valley.
About the Paper
Dr. Chatterjee’s piece identifies and analyses three principal haunted‑architecture archetypes in Bond’s work: woods and tombstones, derelict or haunted cottages, and spectral faces — and argues that these images perform a complex cultural work, conjuring Anglo‑Indian subjectivities and a distinct haunted topography in the hill station landscape.
That research is now referenced in the Mullingar Mansion entry on Wikipedia, which discusses the history and haunted reputation of several colonial residences in Mussoorie. The citation recognises Chatterjee’s contribution to contemporary readings of Mussoorie’s literary and architectural imaginaries, and brings this scholarly perspective into a widely consulted public resource.
Why this Matters — Academic Scholarship Meets Heritage Discourse
Wikipedia is often the first port of call for readers, students, and travellers seeking quick, contextual information about places and their stories. The inclusion of a specialist, peer‑reviewed analysis in the Mullingar Mansion entry helps to broaden public understanding of how literature, memory, and built form interact in the hill‑station landscape. It also demonstrates how academic work on cultural history and literary geography can inform and enrich public histories and local legends.
A brief note about the paper: published in Anglo Saxonica on 19 February 2021 (DOI: 10.5334/as.34), the article draws on interdisciplinary frameworks — including archetypal literary criticism and hauntology — to read Ruskin Bond’s Mussoorie as a palimpsest of Anglo‑Saxon architectural archetypes. Dr. Chatterjee situates well‑known fictional settings (for example, cottages and hotels familiar to Bond’s readers) within a wider discussion of colonial cultural memory, demonstrating how architecture functions as a site of haunting and historical negotiation.
We welcome this acknowledgement and view it as an encouraging instance of academic work bridging scholarly debate and public knowledge. If you’re interested in reading the full article, it is available through academic outlets and repositories, and we invite readers to explore how literary scholarship can illuminate the layered histories of places like Mullingar Mansion and the broader Doon Valley.
Further Reading and Contact
For updates and further mentions in the media, websites, or public resources, please check the Mentions page regularly. If you are using or citing Dr. Chatterjee’s work and would like to notify us, feel free to get in touch via the contact page.
Arup K. Chatterjee 