Threads of the East: Critical Debates on Cultural Thinking and Practices in Asia
Editors: Suvro Parui is Research Fellow at the Vivekanada International Foundation (VIF), New Delhi and attached to Amity School of Languages. Parui holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in Chinese language, literature, and culture from Banaras Hindu University and a Ph.D. in Chinese Literature from Visva Bharati University. His scholarly interests include national movements, historical literature, and Chinese documentation and translation, particularly in social and economic topics. He has been a Fellow of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS), a Courtesy Faculty Member at the University of Calcutta’s China Center, Visiting Lecturer at Visva Bharati University’s Cheena Bhawan Center, and Lecturer at the School of Languages of the Ahmadabad Management Association (AMA) in Ahmadabad.
Udaya Narayana Singh is Chair-Professor at Amity University Gurugram, Haryana. Formerly Director of the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Visva-Bharati University, he has taught at the Universities of Hyderabad, Delhi, South Gujarat, and the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. He has published seven collections of poems, six books of essays, twelve plays, and 250 research papers, and created 545 documentary films. A poet-invitee at the Frankfurt Book Fair (2006) and Leader of the Cultural Delegation of Writers to China (2007), Singh has lectured in numerous countries. His latest book is The Other India: View From Below (2022).
Threads of the East traces the relationships among aesthetic, anthropological, and political-economic aspects of cultural production and reproduction. Cultural studies scholars and practitioners often begin their inquiries by questioning the common understandings, beliefs, and histories that shape our world. This approach helps explain the complexity of day-to-day life and the practice, habits, text, objects, rituals, and beliefs woven in the social matrix and laden with values and meaning. Culture is an umbrella covering many elements and conveying many meanings. In Asian societies, culture connotes value and respect as a religious duty; moreover, in Asian culture respect is centered around the family and formally demonstrated through language and gestures. The Asian concept of respect influences feelings of responsibility within the family and the ways in which Asian parents and children may set about making decisions. Knowing Asia is only possible from a multidimensional approach, where problems can arise from misunderstandings, especially because we live in a multicultural world. By learning and understanding different cultures, one can understand why people do things the way they do.
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