This volume platforms scholars working in cultural studies in Asia and responds to the recentering of cultural studies along the diaspora axis. Drawing together numerous authors, The Soul of Asia participates in cultural politics at a local level, but with an international agenda. As a collective, the authors aim to construct a “critical inter-Asian subjectivity,” drawing on local critical intellectual traditions while forging global links with other cultural studies networks. In this way, the collection problematizes “Asia” as a concept in the context of the continent’s postwar economic and cultural resurgence layered over its troubled history between colonized and colonizer.
Suvro Parui is Research Fellow at the Vivekanada International Foundation (VIF), New Delhi and attached to Amity School of Languages. Parui holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in Chinese language, literature, and culture from Banaras Hindu University and a Ph.D. in Chinese Literature from Visva Bharati University. His scholarly interests include national movements, historical literature, and Chinese documentation and translation, particularly in social and economic topics. He has been a Fellow of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS), a Courtesy Faculty Member at the University of Calcuttas China Center, Visiting Lecturer at Visva Bharati Universitys Cheena Bhawan Center, and Lecturer at the School of Languages of the Ahmadabad Management Association (AMA) in Ahmadabad.
Udaya Narayana Singh is Chair-Professor at Amity University Gurugram, Haryana. Formerly Director of the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Visva-Bharati University, he has taught at the Universities of Hyderabad, Delhi, South Gujarat, and the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. He has published seven collections of poems, six books of essays, twelve plays, and 250 research papers, and created 545 documentary films. A poet-invitee at the Frankfurt Book Fair (2006) and Leader of the Cultural Delegation of Writers to China (2007), Singh has lectured in numerous countries. His latest book is The Other India: View From Below (2022).
