Research Seminar - Department of Art History and Cultural Practices, University of Manchester
The Virtual Cosmopolitan in the Global Colonial Order
Professor Partha Mitter
Abstract
Recently intense debates have centred on the urgent issue of global connectivity in view of the imbalance between the metropolitan centre and the periphery in the post-colonial period. Central to this debate is the idea of cosmopolitanism in the light of globalisation that began during the colonial era and has continued to our day. Cosmopolitanism naturally presupposes travel and privilege. But what about mass migration of political and economic refugees who are described as ‘cosmopolitans from below’? And what about those who stay at home and yet engage with global modernity? It is the last category I will concentrate on today. My talk will focus on the migration of ideas and cross-cultural exchanges during the colonial period that became possible though communication revolution, the spread of ‘hegemonic’ languages and of print culture – all of which contributed to the creation of a global ‘virtual cosmopolis.’ Finally, the paper will propose ways of communicating in our global world that is not compromised by the asymmetrical relations between the centre and the periphery, created through colonial dominance.
Biography
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