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This volume is a cross-cultural study of the evolution of
civilisation. Drawing its material and inspiration from literature
and culture, it looks at the achievements of humankind as a single
imaginative experience. The book examines how traditions of poetry
and literature have shaped cultures, societies and civilisations,
and their inter-relatedness. Analysing stereotypes in Asia and
Europe, the author raises questions fundamental to our perceptions
of culture, democracy, and language. He throws light on dominant
languages and languages cast aside by the tides of history, and
attributes the status of English as a 'world language' to ideas
propagated in the great epics of the West - particularly Roman -
and the poetic heritage shaped by them. Discussing the fallout of
that dream on other cultures and 'non-technical' languages of the
world, this book investigates questions of legitimacy and
desirability of a single language or culture becoming universal. A
sensitive and nuanced work, it promises a good read for general
readers as well as researchers interested in world literature,
comparative literature, sociology and cultural studies, in the
interaction between science and art, and in the forces that shape
the world order.
This volume is a cross-cultural study of the evolution of
civilisation. Drawing its material and inspiration from literature
and culture, it looks at the achievements of humankind as a single
imaginative experience. The book examines how traditions of poetry
and literature have shaped cultures, societies and civilisations,
and their inter-relatedness. Analysing stereotypes in Asia and
Europe, the author raises questions fundamental to our perceptions
of culture, democracy, and language. He throws light on dominant
languages and languages cast aside by the tides of history, and
attributes the status of English as a 'world language' to ideas
propagated in the great epics of the West - particularly Roman -
and the poetic heritage shaped by them. Discussing the fallout of
that dream on other cultures and 'non-technical' languages of the
world, this book investigates questions of legitimacy and
desirability of a single language or culture becoming universal. A
sensitive and nuanced work, it promises a good read for general
readers as well as researchers interested in world literature,
comparative literature, sociology and cultural studies, in the
interaction between science and art, and in the forces that shape
the world order.
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