India, Sri Lanka and the SAARC Region: History, Popular Culture and Heritage

This book explores the historical and socio-cultural connections across the SAARC region, particularly focusing on the relationship between India and Sri Lanka. It investigates unexplored narratives of history, popular culture, and intangible heritage to identify cultural parallels and intersections. Themes include cultural ties, exchanges between artists, mythology, folklore, the influence of Rabindranath Tagore, railways, Hindi cinema, and womens writing. The book is useful for scholars and researchers in cultural studies, South Asian studies, anthropology, sociology, popular culture, cross-cultural communication, gender studies, political sociology, cultural history, diplomacy, international relations, and heritage studies.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 164 pages
Publication date: 25 September 2023
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive book delves into the intricate historical and socio-cultural connections spanning the SAARC region, with a particular emphasis on the profound relationship between India and Sri Lanka. It explores hitherto unexplored narratives of history, popular culture, and intangible heritage to uncover the cultural parallels and intersections that unite these nations. By departing from an organized and authorized heritage discourse, the volume fosters the potential for new understandings and re-interpretations of cross-cultural communication and its subtleties.

The book, based on extensive original ethnographic research, examines a range of themes, including the deep-rooted cultural ties between India and Sri Lanka, the exchange of ideas between renowned figures such as Arthur C. Clarke in Sri Lanka and Satyajit Ray in India, the cultural connectivity reflected in mythology and folklore, the influence of Rabindranath Tagore on modern dance in Sri Lanka, the introduction of railways in Sri Lanka, the prevalence of narrative scrolls and masked dance forms across SAARC countries, Hindi cinema's pioneering role in fostering cultural connectivity, and the diverse expressions of womens writing across South Asia.

Written in a lucid and compelling style, this book is an invaluable resource for scholars and researchers in the fields of cultural studies, South Asian studies, cultural anthropology, sociology, popular culture, cross-cultural communication, gender studies, political sociology, cultural history, diplomacy, international relations, and heritage studies. It also appeals to general readers with an interest in exploring the intricate linkages between India and Sri Lanka.

Weight: 453g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367568023