48-50: Three non-fiction books

[wordsofastory]

48. B. B. Lal, The Sarasvati Flows On: The Continuity of Indian CultureA short, easy-to-read (except for one chapter which seems to come from another book entirely) pop non-fiction summary of the Indus or Harappan Civilization, a Bronze Age culture located in the modern countries of India and Pakistan, which had its own writing system, cities, and

Comments

[dhobikikutti]

OMG Thank you for recommending books about India actually written by Indians /irrational venting>

[fiction_theory]

That hardly sounds like irrational venting at all, if you don't mind me saying so and I'm really sorry that you've been made to feel that pointing out something so RIGHT is irrational at all. Because it's very rational and reasonable.

I think it's actually VERY valid to be upset that so many history books penned about India are penned by very privileged non-Indian people and upset that more people don't realize that it's a huge problem and has huge cultural, intellectual, and political ramifications for the people who's history is being discussed.

It's something that should be discussed and brought up far more often, if not on this comm then in other places where Indian history or history in general is discussed.

Thank you for reminding me of that.

[dhobikikutti]

Heh. I said it was irrational because in this comm, no one would be able to rec books by white authors even if they wanted to.

And yeah, while I have a great deal of respect for the research and scholarship of non-Indian academic Indologists, I remain wary of their texts being the starting points for someone unfamiliar with the culture.

Thanks for your supportive comment!

[wordsofastory]

It is really frustrating. I'm always looking for good books on Indian history by Indians, and I don't think I've ever seen one in my local chain bookstores. It's always White Mughals and Women of the Raj (but only British women, of course), and other annoying titles.

[spiralsheep]

Ironically, while I was reading the review of the Calendar Art book, I was thinking how much I'd LOVE to read a srs book about the distribution and usage of the same sort of art by/among British Asians, cos they were for sale in loads of newsagents in London when I was a kid.

Heh.