Clearing a Space (The Past in the Present) [Paperback]

Amit Chaudhuri (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This extraordinary and wide-ranging collection, through a series of highly-focussed apercus, puts in question the key terms of self-understanding of much modern literature: 'modernism' and 'post-modernity', for instance; and this from the standpoint of an insightful observer who has moved between more than one Indian and several Euro-American vantage points. The book offers among other things a fascinating insight into the specificity of certain Indian itineraries within the multiple modernities we inhabit today; including that of a largely unrecognized 'secular spirituality'. This and much else make this book a treasure trove of acute and thought-provoking perceptions" - Charles Taylor, McGill University "Amit Chaudhuri's collected essays and reviews constitute an intellectual autobiography of the first importance" - Rajeswari Sunder Rajan, Global Distinguished Professor of English at NYU "Amit Chaudhuri's career as a novelist has proceeded in tandem with an ongoing engagement as a robust critic and thinker and musician. In these essays breadth of knowledge and the fluency of thought are held in perfect balance. Clearing a Space is a compendious, quietly passionate, rigorous and unfailingly eloquent collection" - Geoff Dyer "In this thought-provoking and compelling set of essays Amit Chaudhuri teases out the implications of polarities that may seem fixed and suggests new ways of exploring the narratives of Indian modernity. He asks hard questions of himself as well as others, and he engages us as readers with the warmth and acuity of his observations across a wonderful range of writing" - Gillian Beer "The essays of Amit Chaudhuri are really a wonderful key to the understanding of the vitality and specificity of Indian modernity ... a fascinating contribution to the understanding of this great civilization and its modern transformations. They are worth the serious attention of scholars in the social sciences as well as the humanities" - Shmuel Eisenstadt, Hebrew University of Jerusalem "Much to ponder and marvel at in this fascinating, subtle and humane book" - Ivan Hewitt, Daily Telegraph "Written over a 15-year period, in which he has excelled as a novelist and academic, Mr Chaudhuri's essays elucidate an Indian modernist tradition, which he finds rooted in 19th-century Bengali humanism and is characterised by 'ellipsis and disjunction'. Bringing them to view - or 'clearing a space' - ... involves pruning back two choking analyses of modern Indian literature: the post-colonial and post-modern. The tension between Mr Chaudhuri's intellect and aesthetic, between the theorist and artist, is engaging. It rewards a second reading of his essays" - Economist "For most people in the West, 'India' has come to mean an overblown but fascinating amalgam of kitsch, weird English, colours, call centres, religiosity and extravagant emotion, illustrated by Bollywood films and the early novels of Salman Rushdie. Hardly anybody expects to find high seriousness, literary, artistic or cinematic modernism, secular reformism, humanistic thought - in short, any of the manifestations of reason - on the Subcontinent. All that, it is implicitly assumed, is a monopoly of Western elites. Amit Chaudhuri's exhilarating essays on 'India, literature and culture' challenge this new orthodoxy A... with intelligence, erudition and civility A... Brilliant essays" - Chandak Sengoopra, Independent "Delightfully spiky" - Guardian "An insightful cultural critic ... Chaudhuri has important things to say about the manner in which the Indian debate on secularism has been dominated by social scientists and constitutional experts ... The Indian writer in English, particularly in this age of globalisation, is a suspect hybrid, often a performer, sometimes merely a puppet. Chaudhuri is neither. He belongs with us, thinks with us" - Alok Rai, Outlook India

Product Details

• Paperback: 330 pages
• Publisher: Peter Lang (December 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1906165017
• ISBN-13: 978-1906165017
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,857,831 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)