Book contents
- Communicating with Asia
- Communicating with Asia
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Book part
- Communicating with Asia: introduction
- Part I English in selected regional and national habitats with a glance at the role of outward-bound communication needs
- Part II Major other languages in Asia, their international status and impact on education
- Part III Wider perspectives
- 16 Understanding Asia by means of cognitive sociolinguistics and cultural linguistics – the example of ghosts in Hong Kong English
- 17 Understanding Asia through English literature
- 18 English as a lingua franca and educational impact in Asia
- 19 The Australian Asia project
- Bibliography
- Index
17 - Understanding Asia through English literature
from Part III - Wider perspectives
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2016
- Communicating with Asia
- Communicating with Asia
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Book part
- Communicating with Asia: introduction
- Part I English in selected regional and national habitats with a glance at the role of outward-bound communication needs
- Part II Major other languages in Asia, their international status and impact on education
- Part III Wider perspectives
- 16 Understanding Asia by means of cognitive sociolinguistics and cultural linguistics – the example of ghosts in Hong Kong English
- 17 Understanding Asia through English literature
- 18 English as a lingua franca and educational impact in Asia
- 19 The Australian Asia project
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Informed by a European perspective, this essay is designed to approach the key issue of how we can possibly understand Asia (and South Asia or India in particular) through the English language and through literature in English. Starting from a working definition of “understanding” based on the ambiguous character of linguistic signs as the instruments of cultural perception and mediation, I briefly conceptualize the potential of language and literature in the process of “deep understanding,” with special emphasis on the specific role of creative wiriting (such as poetry or fiction) in this process.
The major part of my contribution is reserved to reviewing the ongoing debate of understanding and mediating South Asia through English writing (both by Western and Indian authors) on three historical levels: Colonial (c. 1820–1940), Post-Independence (1947–1960), The New Millennium (since 1990). This review correlates theoretical and programmatic statements with outstanding literary experiments.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Communicating with AsiaThe Future of English as a Global Language, pp. 267 - 281Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2016