Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay - An Intellectual Biography

Author: Amiya P SenPublisher: Oxford University PressYear: 2008Language: EnglishPages: 133ISBN/UPC (if available): 0195695038 DescriptionBankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s writings, in many ways, determined the intellectual and cultural content of modern Hinduism and Hindu nationalism. They also contributed significantly to the critical self-consciousness of the English-educated Indian middle classes. Most importantly, Bankim Chandra was one of the earliest writers to have dealt with the Indian response to the moral and intellectual challenges posed by the West. This critical biography presents an insightful analysis of Bankim Chandra’s life, thought, and works. Amiya P. Sen discusses how Bankim Chandra’s writings influenced the nascent Indian nationalism of the late nineteenth century, but with paradoxical results. On the one hand, Bankim Chandra asserted a distinctively Hindu identity, which produced a bonding based on shared religious sentiments. On the other, his evocative use of Hindu