SUBJECTS OF MODERNITY: Time-space, disciplines, margins. The STIAS Series

摘要

Premised on the notion that there is a dearth of conceptual clarity regarding modernism and modernity in South Asia (where both of these terms are frequently discussed within the framework of modernization), this book by Saurabh Dube seeks to offer a careful yet stimulating analysis of the formation(s) of the modern. For this reason, the text opens by acknowledging that the issues taken up necessitate "not only critical articulation, but also careful affirmation" (17) of the subjects of modernity. If this theoretical impulse has the book persistently engaged in a dialogue with other books and thinkers, this is not to imply that the book is consequently rendered bereft of an empirically grounded discussion. Instead, Dube not only draws freely from his own academic trajectory as well as ethnographic material to illustrate his conceptualization of modernity, he also extends further afield to encompass the genealogies of the modern in Europe, the Americas, and South Asia. Alongside these aspects, one finds the text peppered throughout with helpful reminders to the reader that modernity is not so much a chronological descriptor as it is a qualitative category. Unlike a conventional monograph, therefore, the arrangement of the chapters in this book does not assume a sequential reading, as underscored by a quick perusal of the chapter titles: "Subjects of Modernity," "Intimations of Modernity," "Maps of Modernity," "Disciplines of Modernity," "Margins of Modernity," and "Modern Subjects."