Conference Series for Purva-paksha on Western Indology
K S Kannan
Dear traditional Indian scholar,
Recent times have witnessed many academic/non-academic controversies related to Western Indology. It is easily discerned that in terms of quality as well as quantity, the participation of Indian scholarship (whose heritage it is that is at stake primarily) has been very poor, especially academically; this is as against that of the West, equipped as it is with an aggressive scholarship backed by funding, institutional support, libraries, conferences, journals, etc.
Two of the significant reasons for the current state of Indian scholarship are: (a) the barriers of language (not just ordinary English, but specialized jargon), and (b) the barriers of multi-disciplinary approach, wherein Indians are at a disadvantage. Various circumstances may have contributed to this, but there is no escape from the necessity of an academic handling of the issue.
As a remedial measure, therefore, it is important to consider the issues raised by the West one by one, and study their merits and demerits in a series of conferences dealing with the major contributors to the field. To begin with, four key issues raised by Sheldon Pollock are taken up. After a lucid and fair statement of the questions raised by him and their logic as purva-paksha, the uttara-paksha will be attempted. It is hoped that in this series of conferences - where ad hominem attacks will be banned – we develop a responsible and responsive scholarship to handle the intellectual challenges of our times.
Scholars are invited herewith to go through the attachment and kindly respond by Sunday, April 3, 2016 with an expression of their preliminary interest.
Write to KS Kannan: ks.kannan.2000@gmail.com
With cc to Shalini Puthiyedam: puthiyedam.sha...@gmail.com