Arts and Aesthetics in a Globalizing World

Raminder Kaur is Professor of Anthropology and Cultural Studies in the School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex, UK.Parul Dave-Mukherji is Professor in the School of Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.

It is a familiar, but still valid, point that 'art' is a Western notion-and a vague one at that, since even Westerners cannot agree and have never agreed about what is 'art' and how it should be judged ...Rather than try to solve such an insoluble problem, the editors and contributors of this eclectic new collection acknowledge, even celebrate "arts in the plural' ... the interdisciplinary lineup of authors take an essentially anthropological approach ... they prove just how broad and lively the concept of 'art' is and how profitable a cross-cultural, globalized perspective on art objects and art worlds can be. -- Jack David Eller Anthropology Review Database

• IntroductionRaminder Kaur, University of Sussex, UK and Parul Dave-Mukherji, Jawaharlal Nehru University, IndiaOf Mockery and Mimicking: Gaganendranath Tagore’s Critique of Henri Bergson’s Laughter (1911)Emilia Terracciano, Courtaud Institute of Art and University College London, UKThe Return of the Aura: Anish Kapoor, the Studio and the World Denis Vidal, IRD/Paris Diderot/EHESS, FranceThe Practice of Art: An Alternative View of Contemporary Art-making in TehranLeili Sreberny-Mohammadi, New York University, USAArt Under Siege: Perils and Possibilities of Aesthetic Forms in a Globalising World Patricia Spyer, Leiden University, The NetherlandsHot Bricolage: Magical Mimesis in Modern IndiaChristopher Pinney, UCL, UKWaste and the Aesthetics of Justice Shiv Visvanatham, O.P. Jindal Global University, India Slaps, Beatings, Laughter, Adda, Puppet Shows: Naxal Women Prisoners in Calcutta and the Art of Happiness in Captivity Atreyee Sen, University of Manchester, UKRwanda: Healing and the Aesthetics of Poetry Andrea Grieder, University of Zurich, Switzerland, and EHESS Paris, France The Aesthetics of Diaspora: Sensual Milieus and Literary Worlds Pnina Werbner, Keele University, UK and Mattia Fumanti, University of St. Andrews, UKFor Love's Sake? Changing landscapes of sonic and visual aesthetics of weddings in the Kathmandu Valley (Nepal)Christiane Brosius, University of Heidelberg, GermanyThe Aesthetics of Pirate Modernities: Bhojpuri Cinema and the UnderclassesAkshaya Kumar, University of Glasgow, UKIntimacy Out of Place: On the Workings of Smell in an Exhibition on Human SexualitySusanne Schmitt, University of Munich, GermanyConsuming Culture: The Refiguration of Aesthetics in Nagaland Cultural Tourism in India’s North EastSoumendra Patnaik, University of Delhi, IndiaReflections upon the Meaning of Contemporary Digital Image-Making Practices in IndiaPaolo Favero, University of Antwerp, Belgium and Giulia Battaglia, Musée du Quai Branly, ParisReflectionsMarilyn Strathern, University of Cambridge, UKIndex