A Postcolonial Imagination? Westerners Searching for Authenticity in India

Bibliographic Data

ID3632063
AuthorsM Korpela (0000-0002-6184-865X, Tampere University, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume36
Issue8
Pages1299-1315
Publication date2010-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Community (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691831003687725
OpenAlexW2062709664
LanguageEN
Citations received65
References cited37

This article looks at contemporary Westerners in the Indian city of Varanasi. The Westerners claim to appreciate authentic India and I argue that this authenticity refers to India's ancient, romanticised past instead of its modern present. I investigate how the Westerners encounter India and Indians and what kinds of subject positions are constructed in those encounters. The article also discusses how the authenticity becomes constructed, especially in regard to the Westerners who are studying Indian classical music in Varanasi. I argue that the Westerners 'imagine' India according their own needs and I ask how their understanding of India and Indian people relates to the 'colonial imagination

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Colonialism · Sociology · Subject (documents · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · History · Philippine History and Culture · South Asian Cinema and Culture

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