Desi-American Reflections on Suffering Change


Book Description

A Desi-American, as Ravi Prakash Dani unravels from his extensive global experience, is the one finding himself `extremely' sensitive to suffering imposed by seismic change embodying hurricane social, political and economic forces. Invariably often such a person has to face the prospect of inflicting upon himself and others suffering of excessive attraction and aversion in the illusion of prosperity. Boldly emodying emergent perceptions of institutionalist orders and suffering in the opportunities to create it, the author foregrounds ordinary `Desi-Americanism' ultimately signifying today's illusive impressions of `competitiveness' and `change'. Unraveling strengths in suffering its `Triple Enigma of Identity, it emerges as that alone uniquely capable of beckoning humanity into interconnectedness with Post Racial and Post 9/11 America.




Suffering


Book Description

Providing a clear and thoughtful discussion of human suffering, Ian Wilkinson explores some of the ways in which research into social suffering might lead us to reinterpret the meaning of modern history as well as revise our outlook upon the possible futures that await us.




Indian Buddhist Philosophy


Book Description

Organised in broadly chronological terms, this book presents the philosophical arguments of the great Indian Buddhist philosophers of the fifth century BCE to the eighth century CE. Each chapter examines their core ethical, metaphysical and epistemological views as well as the distinctive area of Buddhist ethics that we call today moral psychology. Throughout, this book follows three key themes that both tie the tradition together and are the focus for most critical dialogue: the idea of anatman or no-self, the appearance/reality distinction and the moral aim, or ideal. Indian Buddhist philosophy is shown to be a remarkably rich tradition that deserves much wider engagement from European philosophy. Carpenter shows that while we should recognise the differences and distances between Indian and European philosophy, its driving questions and key conceptions, we must resist the temptation to find in Indian Buddhist philosophy, some Other, something foreign, self-contained and quite detached from anything familiar. Indian Buddhism is shown to be a way of looking at the world that shares many of the features of European philosophy and considers themes central to philosophy understood in the European tradition.




Changed Forever, Volume II


Book Description

After a theoretical and historical introduction to American Indian boarding-school literature, Changed Forever, Volume II examines the autobiographical writings of a number of Native Americans who attended the federal Indian boarding schools. Considering a wide range of tribal writers, some of them well known—like Charles Eastman, Luther Standing Bear, and Zitkala-Sa—but most of them little known—like Walter Littlemoon, Adam Fortunate Eagle, Reuben Snake, and Edna Manitowabi, among others—the book offers the first wide-ranging assessment of their texts and their thoughts about their experiences at the schools.




Research Handbook on Asylum and Refugee Policy


Book Description

Providing a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary analysis of key issues in the field, this topical Research Handbook explores asylum and migration policy in a global context. Chapters consider national, regional and international responses to refugees and forced migration, examining the evolution of asylum and refugee policies and why gaps remain in protection.




Writers of Indian Diaspora


Book Description

This anthology is a voluminous compendium of 37 unique and meticulously crafted chapters, each analysing a separate text by a pioneering Indian diaspora writer, with no repetition of authors or texts. This enhances the analytical depth and diversity of this unique anthology. Within these chapters, a carefully curated and evocative array of diverse themes and concerns addressed by these writers unfolds, offering a comprehensive exploration of the diasporic literary terrain. Assimilation and acculturation in the host country, as well as repatriation in the native country, can be challenging issues for the immigrants who have lived abroad for many years. These chapters attempt to elucidate the distinctive mosaic of themes, motifs, and perspectives embedded in the selected works of Indian diaspora writers. Unlike similar anthologies, this compilation is a painstaking, granular exploration of the literary oeuvre of Indian diaspora writers, highlighting an eclectic mix of genres and remarkable diaspora experiences. In an era characterised by increased migration and cultural hybridity, this anthology is an essential read for scholars, researchers, faculty members, students, and all connoisseurs of literature alike.




Retrofitting Blade Runner


Book Description

This book of essays looks at the multitude of texts and influences which converge in Ridley Scott's film Blade Runner, especially the film's relationship to its source novel, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The film's implications as a thought experiment provide a starting point for important thinking about the moral issues implicit in a hypertechnological society. Yet its importance in the history of science fiction and science fiction film rests equally on it mythically and psychologically resonant creation of compelling characters and an exciting story within a credible science fiction setting. These essays consider political, moral and technological issues raised by the film, as well as literary, filmic, technical and aesthetic questions. Contributors discuss the film's psychological and mythic patterns, important political issues and the roots of the film in Paradise Lost, Frankenstein, detective fiction, and previous science fiction cinema.







Reflections on Indian English Fiction


Book Description

The Book Presents A Collection Of Papers That Are Wide Ranging Not Only In The Choice Of Authors Two Of The Big Trio, R.K. Narayan And Raja Rao On The One Hand, And The Recent Ones Like Upamanyu Chatterjee And Manju Kapur On The Other, But Also In The Different Angles From Which These Novelists Have Been Discussed. It Includes A Much Talked About Author Like Arundhati Roy As Well As A Remarkable But Less Discussed Writer Like Ruskin Bond. It Consists Of Feminist Study As Well As Semiotic Study And Postmodern Reading.




An End to Suffering


Book Description

An End to Suffering is a deeply original and provocative book about the Buddha's life and his influence throughout history, told in the form of the author's search to understand the Buddha's relevance in a world where class oppression and religious violence are rife, and where poverty and terrorism cast a long, constant shadow. Mishra describes his restless journeys into India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, among Islamists and the emerging Hindu middle class, looking for this most enigmatic of religious figures, exploring the myths and places of the Buddha's life, and discussing Western explorers' "discovery" of Buddhism in the nineteenth century. He also considers the impact of Buddhist ideas on such modern politicians as Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. As he reflects on his travels and on his own past, Mishra shows how the Buddha wrestled with problems of personal identity, alienation, and suffering in his own, no less bewildering, times. In the process Mishra discovers the living meaning of the Buddha's teaching, in the world and for himself. The result is the most three-dimensional, convincing book on the Buddha that we have.