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.

About the Author

Suchethana Swaroop is the Chief Information Commissioner, Karnataka Information Commission, Bengaluru, India. He has previously taught media and communications and served as Director, Educational Multimedia Research Centre, at the University of Mysore, India.

N. S. Raghavan (the translator) holds a doctorate in literature from the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India, and has taught English language and literature for over three decades.

Book Information
ISBN 9780367730475
Author Suchethana Swaroop
Format Paperback
Page Count 294
Imprint Routledge India
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g