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• New Postcolonial Dialectics: An Intercultural Comparison of Indian and Nigerian Plays by Sarbani Sen Vengadasalam
• Satkirti Sinha

In this book, Sarbani Sen Vengadasalam talks about her scholarly investigation on interculturalist philosophy in India and Nigeria before and after their Independence. Her research revolves around the struggle of Indian and Nigerian writers in finding a middle path for achieving a "cultural renaissance" in their respective countries by highlighting the role of interculturalism which neither denies tradition nor rejects western culture. Therefore, as a case study in her book, she presents the theatrical plays written by Rabindranath Tagore (Red Oleanders, 1925), Wole Soyinka (The Lion and Jewel, 1959 and The Road, 1965), and Badal Sircar (Procession, 1983) to examine the efficacy of interculturalism as a critical tool for achieving social amelioration in India and Nigeria at different phases of "culture encounter" during colonial and post-colonial periods. In the initial part of the book, the author states her objective is to cross-examine the above mentioned Indian and Nigerian intercultural plays separately and against each other to verify that "interculturalism as a comparative framework, could be a solution to the problems of comparative theories" (p. 47) and can be used to compare literature and portray social issues on the stage. As a reader of this book, I would agree that the author accomplishes her desired objective because her "investigation on four different intercultural plays confirms" (p. 215) that intercultural analysis could [End Page 590] be used to compare cross-cultural literature as well as act as a bridge for achieving cultural renaissance.

The first chapter, "Colonial Encounter and the Intercultural Dialectic," illuminates the history of colonialism in India and Nigeria. The author explains how culture plays a vital role in determining the identity and character of human beings. She further states that "culture is the ethos of the nation, the character of a country and the spirit of people" (p. 2). After making her reader understand the importance of culture and its role in preserving the integrity of a community, she points out that first thing colonizers did while occupying a superior position in India and Nigeria was to inflict "cultural trauma" and create a "cultural cringe" among the colonized people so that they could be oppressed with their thought process controlled by British government.

Vengadasalam is at her best in the first chapter while explaining the role of myths created by colonizers to destroy native culture in India and Nigeria and the creation of an elite class of Indians and Nigerians during the colonial period. As a reader, this part of the book helped me to understand why elites like Tagore during pre-independence and Sircar (and Soyinka both before and after) after independence in India and Nigeria adopted the intercultural model to modernize their societies. I also appreciate the explanation given by the author at the end of the chapter that the "interculturalism model is never outdated" (p. 48), as a result intellectuals like Tagore, Soyinka, and Sircar used intercultural philosophy in their plays.

The second and third chapters are the essence of the book, where the reader sees how British imperialism expanded and denied the native cultures of India and Nigeria during the colonial period. The author illustrates how the colonial government controlled both countries by attacking their culture; the only difference between Indian and Nigerian colonialism was the latter's prior slave history. She further elaborates about nationalist movements that took place in both countries, especially Swadeshi in India and Negritude in Nigeria and how intellectuals like Tagore and Soyinka rejected these movements. Both Tagore and Soyinka believed an east-west synthesis could develop a new pluralistic and a modernized country. Most importantly the detailed analysis of Tagore's Red Oleanders in India and Soyinka's The Lion and Jewel in Nigeria highlights the history of performing arts field during the pre-independence period; such plays presented theatrical shows as a metaphor for social justice and championed intercultural philosophy.

In the next two chapters, the author discusses the issue of neo...

审核人：

• 新的后殖民辩证法：萨尔巴尼·森·旺格达萨拉姆对印度和尼日利亚戏剧的跨文化比较
• 萨基蒂·辛哈（Satkirti Sinha）

在这本书中，萨尔巴尼·森·旺格达萨拉姆（Sarbani Sen Vengadasalam）谈论了她对印度和尼日利亚独立之前和之后的跨文化主义哲学的学术研究。她的研究围绕着印度和尼日利亚作家为寻找在各自国家实现“文化复兴”的中间途径而进行的斗争，着重强调了既不拒绝传统也不拒绝西方文化的跨文化主义的作用。因此，作为她书中的案例研究，她介绍了拉宾德拉纳特·塔戈尔（Rabindranath Tagore）（Red Oleanders，1925），Wole Soyinka（《狮子与珠宝》（Lion and Jewel，1959）和《The Road》，1965）和Badal Sircar（Procession）所写的戏剧作品。（1983年），考察了跨文化主义作为在殖民时期和后殖民时期“文化遭遇”的不同阶段在印度和尼日利亚实现社会改善的关键工具的功效。在本书的第一部分中，作者指出，她的目标是分别和相互比较地审视上述印度和尼日利亚的跨文化戏剧，以验证“跨文化主义作为比较框架，可以解决比较问题”。理论”（第47页），可以用来比较文学作品和描绘舞台上的社会问题。作为本书的读者，我同意作者能够实现自己的预期目标，因为她的“对四种不同的跨文化戏剧的研究证实了这一点”（第用于比较跨文化文学，并充当实现文化复兴的桥梁。

第一章“殖民遭遇与跨文化辩证法”阐明了印度和尼日利亚的殖民主义历史。作者解释了文化如何在决定人类的身份和性格中起至关重要的作用。她进一步指出，“文化是国家的精神，国家的特色和人民的精神”（第2页）。在使读者理解文化的重要性及其在维护社区完整性方面的作用后，她指出，殖民者在印度和尼日利亚占据优势地位时所做的第一件事就是造成“文化创伤”并造成“文化威胁” ”，以使他们可以受到英国政府控制的思想过程的压迫。

在第一章中，Vengadasalam处于最佳状态，同时解释了殖民者创造的神话对破坏印度和尼日利亚本土文化的作用，以及在殖民时期创造了印第安人和尼日利亚精英阶层的作用。作为读者，本书的这一部分帮助我理解了为什么在独立前的泰戈尔（Tagore）和在印度和尼日利亚独立后的锡尔卡（Sircar）（以及前后的Soyinka）等精英人士采用了跨文化模式来使他们的社会现代化。我也很欣赏作者在本章末尾所作的解释，即“跨文化主义模式永远不会过时”（第48页），结果，泰戈尔，索因卡和西卡尔等知识分子在他们的戏剧中都使用了跨文化哲学。

第二章和第三章是本书的精髓，读者可以看到英国帝国主义在殖民时期如何扩大和否认印度和尼日利亚的本土文化。作者阐述了殖民政府如何通过攻击两国文化来控制两国。印度和尼日利亚殖民主义之间的唯一区别是后者的先前奴隶历史。她进一步阐述了两国发生的民族主义运动，特别是印度的Swadeshi和尼日利亚的Negritude，以及塔戈尔和索因卡等知识分子如何拒绝这些运动。泰戈尔（Tagore）和索因卡（Soyinka）都认为东西向的综合可以发展出一个新的多元化和现代化的国家。最重要的是，详细分析了印度的泰戈尔（Tagore）和红豆（Soyinka）尼日利亚的狮子和珠宝突出了独立前时期表演艺术领域的历史；这些戏剧以戏剧表演的形式来比喻社会正义和拥护的跨文化哲学。

在接下来的两章中，作者讨论了新问题。