{"id":51557,"date":"2018-04-26T11:55:40","date_gmt":"2018-04-26T10:55:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=51557"},"modified":"2018-05-09T11:53:31","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T10:53:31","slug":"verge-india-in-western-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=51557","title":{"rendered":"Verge; India in Western Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new publication, On the Paths of Enlightenment: The Myth of India in Western Culture<\/i>, \u00a0explores our fascination with India from the 1800s to the present day. Filled with wonderful paintings, illustrations and photography, the book covers how all types of art forms have been inspired by the welcoming mythology and multiculturality of the nation. It provides a detailed and intriguing context to this allure of the country and explores how its spirituality encouraged Westerners to oppose and resist consumerism and materialism they were so familiar with, allowing travellers to awaken and \u201cfind themselves\u201d in whichever way was central to them.<\/p>\n

Myth of India <\/i>shows how this inspiration began to be reflected in music, art, writing and filmmaking. It includes more than 600 colour illustrations.<\/p>\n

.Cent\u2019s Picks:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

With the expansion of colonialism, Myth of India <\/i>shows how orientalist painters emerged in the second half of the 19th century, and the painter who most greatly devoted himself to Indian subjects, Edwin Lord Weeks (1849-1903).<\/p>\n

\"01.<\/a><\/p>\n

An important part of the book discusses the writings of philosopher Carl Jung and his relationship with India. In 1936, Carl Jung argued that Westerners were not suited for the practice of yoga, but his findings can be observed to show that Jung\u2019s attitudes changed, and later thought of India as a \u201cdreamlike\u201d world.<\/p>\n

Camille Henrot\u2019s experimental film\u00a0The Strife of Love in a Dream\u00a0<\/i>(2011) takes Jung\u2019s idea, as well as Indian psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar\u2019s assertion that India is \u2018the unconscious of the West\u2019 to connote a particular perspective of cross-cultural representation. This is only one example in\u00a0Myth of India<\/i>; the book providing a catalogue of films from independent and documentaries to big Hollywood blockbusters. It\u2019s surprisingly critical too, questioning the success of portraying youthful Indian culture in Danny Boyle\u2019s Oscar-winning\u00a0Slumdog Millionaire<\/i>, comparing this feature with films that represent youth culture in a more bold and confident way.<\/p>\n

The book also studies how Odilon Redon became intrigued by Eastern spirituality and how it influenced his own art.<\/p>\n

\"02.<\/a><\/p>\n

Amongst exploring other musicians, Myth of India <\/i>delves into how Ravi Shankar became a cultural mediator, how his style became embedded in Western jazz and pop, inspiring the likes of The Beatles. The publication gives the reader an opportunity to digest parallels between sounds in music that they know and love.<\/p>\n

Here, two of Cent\u2019s modern examples of Western music inspired by Indian sounds.<\/p>\n

Alt-J – Taro<\/p>\n