Reconceptualizing Indian studies - Balagangadhara (Book review by Koenraad Elst)

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Reconceptualizing Indian studies -- Balagangadhara (Book
review by Koenraad Elst)

The lost honour of India studies (May 8, 2013)
Reconceptualizing India Studies
Balagangadhara
OUP India
288 pages - 215x140mm
978-0-19-808296-5 - Hardback - 06 September 2012

Author information

Balagangadhara, Professor and Director, Research Centre,
Vergelijkende Cultuurwetenschap, Department of
Comparative Science of Cultures, Ghent University,
Belgium

S. N. Balagangadhara is Professor and Director Research
Centre, Vergelijkende Cultuurwetenschap, Department of
Comparative Science of Cultures, Ghent University,
Belgium.

About the book

Re-examines postcolonial studies and modern India as a
domain of study.

Provides new perspective on Hinduism, caste system, and
secularism.

Discusses foremost contemporary thinkers like Edward
Said, Karl Popper, and Amartya Sen.

This book asserts that postcolonial studies and modern
India studies are in need of theoretical rejuvenation.
Post Said's Orientalism, postcolonialism, as a
discipline, has drifted into the realm of paralysing
self-reflection and impenetrable jargon. This volume
addresses the original concerns of postcolonial studies
and the central problems of modern India studies, and
points out a potential direction for the social-
scientific study of the Indian culture at a time when it
is being challenged from all sides. Stressing the need
for an alternative understanding of the Western culture,
Balagangadhara argues that Hinduism, caste system, and
secularism are not colonial constructs but entities
within the Western cultural experience. He believes that
the so-called facts about India and her traditions are a
result of colonial consciousness. To answer the questions
about Indian traditions, we need to understand the
Western culture.

This book will be of considerable interest to all those
interested in understanding Indian society, culture, and
traditions. Scholars and students of history, philosophy,
sociology, and postcolonial studies will also find this
very useful.

Readership: This book will be of considerable interest to
all those interested in understanding Indian society,
culture, and traditions. Scholars and students of
history, philosophy, sociology, and postcolonial studies
will also find this very useful.

Table of contents

Continues at:

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2013/05/reconceptualizing-indian-studies.html

Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti

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