Author: Kamala Ganesh
Usha Thakkar/
Editor(s): Kamala Ganesh / Usha Thakkar
Publisher: Sage Publications
Year: 2005
Language: English
Pages: 274
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0761933077
Description
The long-standing and continuing debate on Indian culture and on what constitutes Indianness manifests itself in many ways, some more subtle than others. In India, the historical passage to modernity, mediated by colonial authority and by nationalist resistance to it, has impacted all cultural disciplines. This collection of 17 original essays provides insights into the various ways in which the interrelated issues of culture, identity and Indianness are expressed in contemporary times.
Divided into four sections, the contributions range from detailed and scholarly essays to critical reviews of literature and reflections on experience. The first two sections deal with music, art, literature and translation, theatre and philosophy. These are fields of knowledge and practice in which there are well-developed indigenous traditions. Sections three and four cover fields in which the very existence of indigenous traditions is a matter of controversy and debate--feminism, the writing of history, and science. Overall, the fields of inquiry chosen are those where traditional practices have entered into a dialogue with modern perspectives, leading to significant outcomes.
The contributors-distinguished specialists writing for a general readership-outline and evaluate significant developments since independence in their respective fields. This interdisciplinary volume testifies that the theme of identity continues to be a potent reference point, even in the more abstract, formal, academic, creative and symbolic realms of culture. It will attract a wide readership in disciplines such as cultural studies, anthropology, sociology, the visual and performing arts, and gender studies.
Contents
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FOREWORD.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION: Fields of Culture: Conversations and Contestations
KAMALA GANESH
PART I
From Interior Landscapes into Cyberspace: Fluidity and Dynamics of Tradition
KAPILA VATSYAYAN
From Sankara to Fusion: An Indian Musical Spectrum
Ashok Ranade.
Lineages of the Modern in Indian Art: The Making of a National History
TAPATI GUHA-THAKURTA
Divided by a Common Language: The Novel in India, in English and in English Translation
MEENAKSHI MUKHERJEE
PART II
Translating Sensibility
DILIP CHITRE
What does translation mean in India?
U R ANANTHAMURTHY
Inter-culturalism and the Question of Body
ANURADHA KAPUR
Inter-culturalism and intra-culturalism in theatre: A personal response
VIJAYA MEHTA
PART III
Stri Shakti: Dimensions of woman power in India
VIMLA BAHUGUNA
Vimla Bahuguna and the legacy of Gandhian politics
USHA THAKKAR
Heritage of Bhakti: Sant women's writings in Marathi
VIDYUT BHAGWAT
Feminism and feminist expression: A Dialogue
DEVAKI JAIN
Re inscribing the past: inserting women into Indian History
UMA CHAKRAVARTI
The humanist perspective and the civilizing role of history
MARIAM DOSSAL
PART IV
Indigenous knowledges and the hegemony of science
CLAUDE ALVARES
Towards an informed science criticism: the debate on science in post independence India
GITA CHADHA
About the Editors and Contributors
INDEX