S. MUKERJI was active as an author only between the years 1913–1919 in British-governed India. He first wrote the serialized The Mysterious Traders for publication in late 1913 (as S.N. Mukerji) and then wrote Indian Ghost Stories for publication the following year (1914). He seems never to have published again (at least under the name of S. Mukerji or S.N. Mukerji), yet remained in good enough standing with the publisher, A.H. Wheeler & Co., to return and pen a new preface for the second edition of Indian Ghost Stories in 1917 and then again a postscript for the fourth edition in 1919 (published 1921).

There is little else found factually about this author. But I can herein speculate . . .

Although there were many accomplished female authors of the era (M. E. <Mary Elizabeth> Braddon, Agatha Christie, Baroness <Emma> Orczy, Amelia Edwards, e.g.), S. Mukerji was almost certainly male. The protagonist of everything written by Mukerji is male, and his writing uniformly expresses a male-dominated worldview. Females in the stories are treated as romantic interests, spurned lovers, background family members, or lingering spirits. The tone of writing lacks even a sensitivity to female depth or perception; it is always the male who has the answer, always the male who is the hero or intrepid investigator while women are painted as naïve or gullible, particularly in The Mysterious Traders.

Next is more readily apparent that S. Mukerji was an educated and literary man, filling his writings with reference to world events, governance, history, and literary quotes (notably an immoderate enthusiasm for Shakespeare). He seems the archetype of a refined, learned gentleman of his time, suggesting presumably that he attended university, which further suggests he had some—at least modest—financial means.

The occasional internet sleuth has claimed him so well educated as to be pen name of Dr. Santosh Kumar (S.K.) Mukherji, m.b., a 1920s Calcutta-based researcher and author of such medical record books as Infantile Cirrhosis of Liver (1922); Elements of Endocrinology (1924); Prostitution in India (1925); and Incompatibility in Prescriptions (1928). The assertion feels clearly implausible and given without any proof or merit except the supposed similarity of name (the surname spelled in variant with an “h,” and even the “S.K.” is mismatched to “S.N.” as attributed to The Mysterious Traders). Even more unlikely to the prospect of this dual career as medical author is the next point:

S. Mukerji was almost certainly a Caucasian Englishman. Proponents of historic Asian fiction auteurs have pointed to Mukerji as example of an accomplished and diverse writer of India, either Bengali-specific or more generalized as inclusive of the broader Asian diaspora. Notably in his writings for Indian Ghost Stories, Mukerji himself makes frequent assurances that he was present and part of haunting experience among Indian children, college students, or government clerks, and along with his ostensible Brahmin-evocative surname leads readers to believe his voice as authentic of the culture.

In scrutiny, this seems more in line with the literary prop of storytellers implying veracity for their fictional character or persona as a type of framing device, particularly when mixed with inclusion of true historical events and anecdotes; popular examples of this craft-technique could be compared alongside works such as The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson; The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story by Susan Hill; Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe; and even the classic of horror epistolary fiction, Dracula by Bram Stoker.

In other words, simply because the author states, “This is a true story,” does not prove it so.

Further supposition involves looking past Indian Ghost Stories to Mukerji’s first work, The Mysterious Traders, which involves rapscallion Americans fleeing to England where they band together to rob the London gentry. At its heart, it is as “English” to Crime/Detective Fiction as one can get, sans bowler hat or smoking pipe. The tale is set firmly in the pantheon of Victorian/Edwardian (or “Romantic”) era and sensibility aligning with other such works as The Red Thumb Mark by R. Austin Freeman or The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume (not to mention the canon of Sherlock Holmes or of Edgar Allan Poe’s tales of C. Auguste Dupin).

Why then publish that first work under a predominantly Bangladeshi surname?

I believe Mukerji did live in India. His publisher, after all, is in Allahabad rather than London. Perhaps the native-sounding nom de plume was to set his writing apart from scores of other British authors. Perhaps it was in homage to another Mukerji-inspired individual or event. Perhaps it was a work for hire, a marketing gimmick, or completely at the publisher’s doing. Notably in Indian Ghost Stories, Mukerji does have knowledge of details of Indian culture and society that most outside the country probably would not be aware, although his writing also displays more of an “observational” tone of Indian life, rather than any depth of personal experience or struggle. All this to say that the matter does not detract from the quality and entertainment of these fabulous stories, but only to suggest perhaps an issue of presumed cultural appropriation.

Who was S.(N.) Mukerji truly? It would be satisfying to discover and ascertain the accuracy of my humble (and entirely indulgent) speculations. But by now the truth, unfortunately, may already be lost to fading, fleeting tomes, as like most of literary history.

—Eric J. Guignard
Chino Hills, California
July 21, 2024

CITATION INFORMATION

Article Title:
Who Was S. Mukerji?

Contributing Author:
Eric J. Guignard

Website Name:
Dark Moon Books website

URL:
http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/S_Mukerji.html

Access Date:

Publisher:
Dark Moon Books

Last Updated:

Original Published Date:
10/26/2024