
Text Wars
Communication, Censorship, Freedom and Responsibility
OUP India (Publisher)
Published on 26. October 2021
Book
Hardback
340 pages
978-0-19-949907-6 (ISBN)
Description
Discourse is a battlefield, and texts (in the broadest sense) are weapons in such battles. Contemporary India has become a major battleground in these "text wars": there is no end in sight to the crude tinkering with centuries of intellectual advance currently being indulged in by puritanical revisionists. If they succeed, India will be redefined by having its institutions forced into line with what can best be described as a nationalist agenda.
This collection of texts by Indian and non-Indian authors tackles questions of free expression, communication, censorship and social pressure, but also problems of social and media responsibility. It contains essays by writers, journalists and scholars, media specialists and political commentators, and includes accounts by contributors who have themselves been the direct victims of censorship, bullying and intimidation; there are poems, too, and a cartoon comic-strip. Most of the texts are originals that were written for this publication.
The book stands out because of the high calibre of the contributors, but also because of the passion of their contributions. This is, after all, a war that must not be lost.
This collection of texts by Indian and non-Indian authors tackles questions of free expression, communication, censorship and social pressure, but also problems of social and media responsibility. It contains essays by writers, journalists and scholars, media specialists and political commentators, and includes accounts by contributors who have themselves been the direct victims of censorship, bullying and intimidation; there are poems, too, and a cartoon comic-strip. Most of the texts are originals that were written for this publication.
The book stands out because of the high calibre of the contributors, but also because of the passion of their contributions. This is, after all, a war that must not be lost.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Delhi
India
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 219 mm
Width: 149 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
417 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-949907-6 (9780199499076)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Dr. Hilda David is an Associate Professor of English at the Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce in Pune. A novelist, playwright, stage director and teacher of creative writing, she has also written extensively for the national dailies. A consultant to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she has coordinated and organised the Ibsen Festivals in India, and she was chosen by the English Speaking Union to represent India at the Shakespeare Workshop in London in 2008. Among her recent publications is a collection of essays, India Diversity (co-edited with Francis Jarman, 2017). Her works have been translated into Hindi, Urdu and Kannada.
Dr. Francis Jarman taught English, Comparative Cultural Studies and Intercultural Communication at Hildesheim University, Germany, until his retirement in 2013. He has also taught or lectured in Egypt, Thailand and Japan and at eighteen European universities, and been a Scholar in Residence at Symbiosis, Pune, and a Visiting Professor at American College,
Madurai. He is a novelist, a playwright, and a classical numismatist. Among his publications about India are a play, A Star Fell (1998), about Cawnpore (Kanpur) in 1857; a study of sat? (2002); a short biography of Azimullah Khan (2008); and a collection of essays, India Diversity (co-edited with Hilda David, 2017)
Dr. Francis Jarman taught English, Comparative Cultural Studies and Intercultural Communication at Hildesheim University, Germany, until his retirement in 2013. He has also taught or lectured in Egypt, Thailand and Japan and at eighteen European universities, and been a Scholar in Residence at Symbiosis, Pune, and a Visiting Professor at American College,
Madurai. He is a novelist, a playwright, and a classical numismatist. Among his publications about India are a play, A Star Fell (1998), about Cawnpore (Kanpur) in 1857; a study of sat? (2002); a short biography of Azimullah Khan (2008); and a collection of essays, India Diversity (co-edited with Hilda David, 2017)
Editor
Associate Professor of EnglishAssociate Professor of English, Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce, Pune
, Hildesheim University, Germany
Content
- Contents
- Acknowledgements xxx
- Introduction. Hilda David xxx
- I
- Drawing Lines. Francis Jarman xxx
- Freedom of Suppression. Christoph Werner xxx
- The Rushdie Affair and the British Press: Some Salutary Lessons.
- Bhikhu Parekh xxx
- Free Expression, Censorship and Information Literacy on the Internet:
- Some Perspectives on Search Engines and Social Media and Their Usage. Joachim Griesbaum xxx
- My Internal Censor. Jerry Pinto xxx
- Wittgenstein's Lion: Intercultural Communication and Foreign Language Competence. Jürgen Beneke xxx
- John Betjeman, the Subversive Conservative. Jane Dryhurst Beckerman xxx
- II
- A Failed Dream. Sanjukta Dasgupta xxx
- Four Poems. Peer Khan xxx
- The Censor's Tail. Manjula Padmanabhan xxx
- Two Poems. Aruni Kashyap xxx
- Five Poems. R. Raj Rao xxx
- Much Ado about a Bridge. M. Mohankumar xxx
- III
- Here Is a Country... Nayantara Sahgal xxx
- The Spark in Their Words: The Texts Lived by Basava and Kalburgi.
- Githa Hariharan xxx
- Freedom of Expression and Values. Perumal Murugan xxx
- Caste on the Plate. Dipti Nagpaul xxx
- A Petition to the Minister xxx
- If There Isn't a Free Press Don't Blame Modi. Kingshuk Nag xxx
- Five Plays and This City. Ramu Ramanathan xxx
- Speak Memory. Premila Paul xxx
- Stories. Hilda David xxx
- Where Is the Mind without Fear?: The Paul Linder Love Endowment Lecture 2017. Sashi Kumar xxx
- Bibliography xxx