This volume is a cross-cultural study of the evolution of civilisation. Drawing its material and inspiration from literature and culture, it looks at the achievements of humankind as a single imaginative experience.
It examines how traditions of poetry and literature have shaped cultures, societies and civilisations. Author Suchethana Swaroop, Chief Information Commissioner, Karnataka Information Commission, raises questions fundamental to our perceptions of culture, democracy and language.
He throws light on the languages cast aside by the tides of history and attributes the status of English as a ‘world language’ to ideas propagated in the great epics of the West, particularly Roman, and the poetic heritage shaped by them.
A sensitive and nuanced work, it promises to be a good read for general readers as well as researchers. The work has been translated by N S Raghavan.