Talking Back

The Idea of Civilization in the India Nationalist Discourse

Nonfiction, History, Asian, India, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science
Cover of the book Talking Back by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, OUP India
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Sabyasachi Bhattacharya ISBN: 9780199088584
Publisher: OUP India Publication: August 24, 2011
Imprint: OUP India Language: English
Author: Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
ISBN: 9780199088584
Publisher: OUP India
Publication: August 24, 2011
Imprint: OUP India
Language: English

British histories in the nineteenth century were by and large monologues. From the turn of the century Indians began to 'talk back', questioning colonial assumptions and narratives of India's past. What was the point of this endeavour? What was said when the Indians began to talk back? What was the discourse of civilization all about? Sabyasachi Bhattacharya explores these questions and lays bare the various forms this rhetoric took: from the defence of Indian civilization to a tendency towards vainglorious depiction of 'Hindu civilization'; from asserting civilizational unity in the distant past to creating a surrogate for nationhood. Tracing the inception of this discourse in the works of R.G. Bhandarkar and Bankimchandra Chatterjee, this book explores the evolution of the idea of civilization in the writings of luminaries like Gandhi, Tagore, Vivekananda, and Nehru, as well as works of intellectuals, historians, linguists, and sociologists like M.G. Ranade, V.K. Rajwade, D.D. Kosambi, Sardar K.M. Panikkar, Nirmal Kumar Bose, and many present-day scholars.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

British histories in the nineteenth century were by and large monologues. From the turn of the century Indians began to 'talk back', questioning colonial assumptions and narratives of India's past. What was the point of this endeavour? What was said when the Indians began to talk back? What was the discourse of civilization all about? Sabyasachi Bhattacharya explores these questions and lays bare the various forms this rhetoric took: from the defence of Indian civilization to a tendency towards vainglorious depiction of 'Hindu civilization'; from asserting civilizational unity in the distant past to creating a surrogate for nationhood. Tracing the inception of this discourse in the works of R.G. Bhandarkar and Bankimchandra Chatterjee, this book explores the evolution of the idea of civilization in the writings of luminaries like Gandhi, Tagore, Vivekananda, and Nehru, as well as works of intellectuals, historians, linguists, and sociologists like M.G. Ranade, V.K. Rajwade, D.D. Kosambi, Sardar K.M. Panikkar, Nirmal Kumar Bose, and many present-day scholars.

More books from OUP India

Cover of the book An Independent, Colonial Judiciary by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Cover of the book Intimate Class Acts by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Cover of the book Roads to Freedom by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Cover of the book In the Land of Buried Tongues by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Cover of the book Surrogacy by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Cover of the book There and Back by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Cover of the book Talking Sociology by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Cover of the book War and Society in Afghanistan by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Cover of the book Aśoka and the Decline of the Mauryas by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Cover of the book Madan Mohan Malaviya and the Indian Freedom Movement by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Cover of the book Building Legitimacy by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Cover of the book India's Freedom Struggle 1857–1947 by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Cover of the book India Revisited by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Cover of the book The Bhagats of the Guru Granth Sahib by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Cover of the book Myanmar by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy