May 11, 2010 Study on orientalism ''Orientalism, Empire, and National Culture - India 1770-1880'' reviewed at http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/books/article426928.ece?css=print In this book, Michael Dodson examines the historical ontology of orientalism, empire, and nationalism - the three major obsessions of the last generation - in the light of rarely used sources in Sanskrit, Hindi, and English, and with fresh insights into the making of modern India. It explores the varied scholarly manifestations in literature, history, and linguistics, related to the period 1770-1880, projecting the image of 'Indian Civilisation.' The book draws on three principal themes: the East India Company's use of orientalist knowledge and the Sanskrit pundits for strengthening state power in Bengal in the late 18th century; the uses of orientalist methodologies in education for the civilising mission in the 19th century; and, the adaptation, by Indian Sanskrit scholars, of some of orientalism's discursive constructs in the production of newly inflected Hindu identities. Eminently readable, the book is striking for its conceptual clarity and intellectual depth, and is capable of attracting the general as well as specialised readership. [snip] -------------- --- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar