Talking the Political Culturally and Other Essays

Contents: 1. Talking the political culturally: Notes for a cultural activist. 2. Literary cultures in history: Divided against themselves? 3. The classical and the colonial: A few tentative reflections. 4. Of progress and the Progressive Cultural Movement. 5. Chinese literature: An introductory essay. 6. Pakistan diary. 7. Philosophical discourse in modern Marathi. 8. Metaphysics and protest in modern Indian discourse on Buddhism. 9. Text, author and aesthetics. 10. Violence of culture: Three cases.

"In his new selection of essays, G.P. Desphpande explores the intricate ramifications of the politics of culture through a wide range of historical references, discourses and texts, drawing on Chinese literature, the Buddhist and Bhakti Traditions, philosophical discourse in modern Marathi, the Natyashastra and the Amara Kosha, the author\'s recent visit to Pakistan, The Progressive Cultural Movement in India and the challenges that it faces today from the point of view of a cultural activist."