Gandhiismo vs. Gandhigiri: el Mahatma, antes y después de su muerte

This paper, which contrasts Rajkumar Hirani’s Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006) with Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982), is as much a celebration of Bollywood as of Gandhi. It is to the former that the credit for most effectively resurrecting the Mahatma should go, certainly much more so than to Gandhians or academics. For Bollywood literally revives the spirit of Gandhi by showing how irresistibly he continues to haunt India today. Not just in giving us Gandhigiri—a totally new way of doing Gandhi in the world—but in its perceptive representation of the threat that modernity poses to Gandhian thought is Lage Raho Munna Bhai remarkable. What is more, it also draws out the distinction between Gandhi as hallucination and the real afterlife of the Mahatma. The film’s enormous popularity at the box office—it grossed close to a billion rupees—is not just an index of its commercial success, but also proof of the responsive chord it struck in Indian audiences. But it is not just the genius and inventiveness of Bollywood cinema that is demonstrated in the film as much as the persistence and potency of Gandhi’s own ideas, which have the capacity to adapt themselves to unusual circumstances and times. Both Richard Attenborough’s Oscar-winning epic, and Rajkumar Hirani’s Lage Raho Munna Bhai show that Gandhi remains as media-savvy after his death as he was during his life.Este artículo, que contrasta dos películas, Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006) de Rajkumar Hirani y Gandhi (1982) de Richard Attenborough, celebra tanto el cine de Bollywood como la figura de Gandhi. El mérito por haber resucitado al Mahatma de una forma muy eficaz debería adjudicarse a la primera de las dos, mucho más que a los expertos de Gandhi o a los académicos. Esto es debido a que Bollywood literalmente reanima el espíritu de Gandhi demostrando cómo la sombra de su persona persiste en la India de hoy. Lage Raho Munna Bhai destaca no solamente porque nos presenta Gandhigiri – una manera totalmente nueva de hacer de Gandhi en el mundo – sino en la representación suspicaz de la amenaza que el pensamiento de Gandhi plantea para la modernidad. Además traza una diferencia entre Gandhi como una alucinación y la existencia del Mahatma después de su muerte. La buena aceptación de la película – las ganancias de los cines ascendieron a casi un billón de rupias — no solamente indica el éxito comercial, sino que pone de manifiesto hasta qué punto caló hondo entre el público indio. Sin embargo, la película no demuestra solo el genio y la inventiva del cine de Bollywood, también celebra la persistencia y el poder de las ideas de Gandhi, que han podido adaptarse a unas circunstancias y a un tiempo poco corrientes. Tanto la épica de Richard Attenborough, ganadora de un óscar, y Lage Raho Munna Bhai de Rajkumar Hirani demuestran que Gandhi sigue sabiendo utilizar los medios de comunicación con la misma astucia que empleaba durante su vida que después de su muerte

Unauthorized Modernities: the strange and familiar in contemporary India

Mitschnitt eines Vortrages, der am 01.07.2003 im Rahmen des Sozial- und Kulturwissenschaftlichen Forschungskolloquiums am Südasien-Institut in Heidelberg gehalten wurde

Rasa e Saundarya: Modernidade e a Estética da Dualidade / Rasa and Saundarya: Modernity and the Aesthetics of Duality

Resumo   O artigo discute a possibilidade de aplicar o conceito de dualidade, que é essencialmente uma categoria metafísica, à discussão sobre beleza e modernidade. É possível que a dualidade, por definição, não seja relacionada ao tempo, à história ou à contingência. Em outras palavras, o problema da dualidade seria válido em todas as épocas, para todas as pessoas, assim como seu oposto, a não dualidade, poderia ser, de acordo com alguns pontos de vista, o antídoto e a solução para a dualidade. Algo parecido com o problema  humano quintessencial de du?kha (sofrimento), apontado por Buda como o problema com o qual todos nós, antigos, medievais, ou modernos, teríamos que conviver para tentar superar a dualidade. Se a dualidade é sinônima da própria condição humana, então como poderia ser situada historicamente ou analisada? O que faz a dualidade na época moderna diferir da dualidade nas épocas tradicionais e como que ela influencia a problemática da beleza?   Palavras-chave: Estética; Rasa; Modernidade; Índia; Dualidade.   Abstract   The article discusses the possibility of applying the concept of duality,  which is essentially a metaphysical category, to the discussion on beauty and modernity. Duality might, by definition, be unrelated to time, to history,  and to contingency. In other words, the problem of duality would obtain at all times for all people, just as its opposite, non-duality, might be, according to some views, its antidote and solution. Somewhat like the quintessential human problem of du?kha (suffering) that the Buddha identified, all of us, whether ancient, medieval or modern, would have to live with and try to overcome duality. If duality is synonymous with the human condition itself, then how was it to be historically situated or analyzed? What makes duality  in modern times different from duality in traditional times and how does it impact on the question of beauty?   Keywords: Aesthetics; Rasa; Modernity; India; Duality

Gandhiism vs. Gandhigiri : the Life and Afterlife of the Mahatma

This paper, which contrasts Rajkumar Hirani's Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006) with Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982), is as much a celebration of Bollywood as of Gandhi. It is to the former that the credit for most effectively resurrecting the Mahatma should go, certainly much more so than to Gandhians or academics. For Bollywood literally revives the spirit of Gandhi by showing how irresistibly he continues to haunt India today. Not just in giving us Gandhigiri-a totally new way of doing Gandhi in the world-but in its perceptive representation of the threat that modernity poses to Gandhian thought is Lage Raho Munna Bhai remarkable. What is more, it also draws out the distinction between Gandhi as hallucination and the real afterlife of the Mahatma. The film's enormous popularity at the box office-it grossed close to a billion rupees-is not just an index of its commercial success, but also proof of the responsive chord it struck in Indian audiences. But it is not just the genius and inventiveness of Bollywood cinema that is demonstrated in the film as much as the persistence and potency of Gandhi's own ideas, which have the capacity to adapt themselves to unusual circumstances and times. Both Richard Attenborough's Oscar-winning epic, and Rajkumar Hirani's Lage Raho Munna Bhai show that Gandhi remains as media-savvy after his death as he was during his life.Este artículo, que contrasta dos películas, Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006) de Rajkumar Hirani y Gandhi (1982) de Richard Attenborough, celebra tanto el cine de Bollywood como la figura de Gandhi. El mérito por haber resucitado al Mahatma de una forma muy eficaz debería adjudicarse a la primera de las dos, mucho más que a los expertos de Gandhi o a los académicos. Esto es debido a que Bollywood literalmente reanima el espíritu de Gandhi demostrando cómo la sombra de su persona persiste en la India de hoy. Lage Raho Munna Bhai destaca no solamente porque nos presenta Gandhigiri - una manera totalmente nueva de hacer de Gandhi en el mundo - sino en la representación suspicaz de la amenaza que el pensamiento de Gandhi plantea para la modernidad. Además traza una diferencia entre Gandhi como una alucinación y la existencia del Mahatma después de su muerte. La buena aceptación de la película - las ganancias de los cines ascendieron a casi un billón de rupias - no solamente indica el éxito comercial, sino que pone de manifiesto hasta qué punto caló hondo entre el público indio. Sin embargo, la película no demuestra solo el genio y la inventiva del cine de Bollywood, también celebra la persistencia y el poder de las ideas de Gandhi, que han podido adaptarse a unas circunstancias y a un tiempo poco corrientes. Tanto la épica de Richard Attenborough, ganadora de un óscar, y Lage Raho Munna Bhai de Rajkumar Hirani demuestran que Gandhi sigue sabiendo utilizar los medios de comunicación con la misma astucia que empleaba durante su vida que después de su muerte