Culture as Power

This book presents new studies on intellectual and cultural interactions in the context of Buddhist heritage and Indo-Japanese dialogue in the late 19th and early 20th centuries on art, religion, and cultural politics. By revisiting Buddhist connections between India and Japan, it examines the pathways of communication on common aesthetic and religious heritage that emerged in the backdrop of colonial experiences and the rise of Asian nationalisms. The volume discusses themes such as Asian arts and crafts under colonialism, formation of East Asian art collections, development of Buddhist art history in Japan, Japanese encounters with Ajanta, India in the history of the Shinto tradition, Japan in India’s xenology, and Buddhism and world peace, and suggests paradigms of reconnecting cultural heritage within a global platform.

With essays from experts across the world, this book will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of history, art history, ancient Indian history, colonial history, heritage and cultural studies, South Asian and East Asian history, visual and media studies, Asian studies, international relations and foreign policy, and the history of globalization.

Madhu Bhalla is Former Professor of Chinese Studies, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Delhi, India. She is currently the editor of India Quarterly at the Indian Council of World Affairs. She has also taught at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and Queens’ University, Canada. She has held a visiting fellowship at the Fudan University, Shanghai, and has been a visiting scholar at the University of Sichuan at Chengdu. She has published in the areas of international relations, Chinese foreign and strategic policy, and political economy. Her interests are in the connections between culture and power in foreign policy. She has been part of track two dialogues between India and China and is on advisory bodies for China studies in India.