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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   31959 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 5, 2022

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I wish I had a good answer for this. A lot of Indian Literature runs into a problem where the only ones who are interested in translating it to English are English speaking white people or practically-white Indians. So you run into a Heisenberg's uncertainty moment, where the act of translating it makes it lose what made it special in the first place.

He should probably read Half Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat.

::cringes in NRI::

It's about how English plays into modern class roles, quite distinct from caste. Chetan Bhagat is also the only famous person I've seen who is willing to discuss this.

What ??

Recommending Chetan Bhagat is like recommending Stephanie Meyers to understand American culture. (edit - which might not be a bad thing?)

He is a bad writer and a bad intellectual.

It is decent schlock , but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone..

It's alright.

If you disagree, name another English language book that covers the particular topic of English language and modern Indian class roles. I can't think of much; most English writers do not generally want to acknowledge it.

I didn't recommend it for the plot. I wouldn't recommend twilight for the plot either, but if someone wanted to understand western female empowerment-by-infantilization, it's a perfectly fine place to start.

IMO, the issues that Chetan Bhagat touches on, don't need as much context about India though. They are fairly straight forward and easily understood even when read from a western lens.

That being said, you make a good point. I'll admit, my reaction to seeing Chetan Bhagat being recommended was kind of knee jerk.

It is especially rich of me, given that I just called RRR the best Indian movie since 3 idiots (a movie loosely based on a Chetan Bhagat book). Also, say what you want about him, he does capture the angst of your average 18-25 yr Indian male pretty well. 2 states was fairly relatable too.

Still not my first recommendation, but I will retrack my earlier kneejerk reaction. Chetan Bhagat is alright.

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