Just very briefly: my objection was to the claim of a "call for the boycott of Israel," which the linked article itself makes quite clear was not at all the case.
Jonathan Silk On Wed, Mar 6, 2024 at 5:53 PM Ananya Vajpeyi <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Professor Silk, > > The Wire is currently the most credible independent media outlet in India. > Respectfully, I dare say I would not dismiss their reportage as unreliable. > (*Full disclosure*: I write for them sometimes, and have written over > many years for all their founding editors and current editors, who were > earlier associated with major mainstream newspapers and media houses like > the Hindu, the Indian Express, the Economic Times, the BBC and so on). > > Ranjit Hoskote is a well-known and well-regarded poet, translator, art > critic, curator and cultural theorist. He took a principled stand against > canceling Palestinian artists and intellectuals in Germany, and was labeled > "anti-semitic" for this, following which he resigned his position from the > 'finding committee' for Documenta. His colleagues followed him: > https://thewire.in/rights/no-space-in-germany-for-open-exchange-of-ideas-after-hoskote-other-documenta-panel-members-quit > > Without getting into the polarised politics in Germany at the moment, > which has affected many academics and writers of all nationalities who have > tried to speak out on Gaza, both Ranjit Hoskote and Mini Krishnan are > perfectly qualified members of an editorial board for a series like the > MCLI. > > The issue is only that they are concerned with literature, translation and > humanistic scholarship in a much broader sense, while the actual editing > work requires philogical training and historical competence of a very > different order. You will agree that the two types of board members can > complement one another, but they cannot do the same things interchangeably. > > Professor Pollock had invited eminent writers and intellectuals from the > Indian languages like Girish Karnad and U.R. Ananthamurthy to write short > prefaces to some of the Clay Sanskrit Library translations, with an eye to > broadening the readership beyond specialists. But the technical aspects of > editing and translation were still the job of others like him and the team > of scholars who worked on the Clay series. I imagine the same holds true > for the MCLI. > > We still don't have an explanation for why the 5 members who put out the > statement (Cox, Venkatesan et al) were dismissed, nor have we heard who > they will be replaced by, or when. > > With kind regards, > > Ananya. > > > On Wed, Mar 6, 2024 at 8:13 PM Jonathan Silk via INDOLOGY < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> With thanks to Patrick for the link, I fear that what it presents is--at >> least as far as I can quickly tell--not in some respects reliable, which >> cannot help but cast doubt on the whole. >> >> I confess my unfamiliarity with the two newly appointed members of the >> editorial board, and I don't --for this and other reasons--have any >> intention of commenting on this. I want to say only this: >> >> I quote from the article directly: >> >> Hoskote is an internationally renowned art curator and poet from Mumbai. >> He was in the news a few months ago >> <https://m.thewire.in/article/the/curator-ranjit-hoskote-resigns-from-documentas-finding-committee-over-anti-semitism-allegations/amp> >> when his criticism of Hindutva and Zionism and an earlier call for the >> boycott of Israel prompted the German government to threaten withdrawal of >> financial support from the ‘Documenta’ art event unless it ended its >> association with him. >> >> If one goes to the linked article and reads it fully (and did the >> reporter who cited it not do this?), one learns that the portrayal in the >> sentence here of Mr Hoskote's position is entirely erroneous. I repeat that >> I am unfamiliar with him, and intend to express no views about him or about >> the Murty affair. I only want to question the reporting here which as far >> as I can see has little relation to the reality of what apparently took >> place between him and the Greman organization with which he was earlier >> connected. >> >> If this sets or indicates the tone of what we can further expect for >> reporting on this affair, we are in trouble. >> >> Jonathan >> >> On Wed, Mar 6, 2024 at 3:26 PM Patrick Olivelle via INDOLOGY < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Here is a Wire report on the issue: >>> >>> [image: Untitled-design-6-800x400.jpg] >>> >>> Exits Rock Murty Classical Library, Once Feted for New Translations of >>> Rare Manuscripts >>> <https://thewire.in/books/murty-classical-library-five-resignations> >>> thewire.in >>> <https://thewire.in/books/murty-classical-library-five-resignations> >>> <https://thewire.in/books/murty-classical-library-five-resignations> >>> >>> Patrick >>> >>> >>> On Mar 5, 2024, at 11:08 PM, Ananya Vajpeyi via INDOLOGY < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> >>> Thank you for your excellent letter, Professor Goldman. >>> >>> Given the discussion here on Indology, this much seems clear: It is in >>> everyone's interest that a project as stellar as the MCLI continue to >>> produce editions and translations of the Indian classics across languages, >>> as it has done for a decade under the General Editorship of Sheldon >>> Pollock, together with different sets of section editors looking after >>> different languages, and with the exceptional publication capacities and >>> standards of HUP (to which I can testify from my own experience as an >>> author, albeit not in this series). >>> >>> Since pretty much everyone with the requisite linguistic, philological, >>> textual and literary expertise (in various classical languages) anywhere in >>> the world is already involved and invested in the MCLI; since we are all in >>> this together as translators, editors, readers, and teachers, we do want >>> the series to continue, and for it to maintain its high quality into the >>> foreseeable future. >>> >>> Like with any group endeavour, some housekeeping and some moving around >>> of personnel is inevitable and wouldn't surprise any of us in academia, >>> with our committees and departments routinely going through these sorts of >>> cycles, and not always smoothly. >>> >>> In this case, given what Archana and her co-editors have brought to our >>> attention, it seems entirely fair to ask for a review or audit of the MCLI, >>> i.e., more transparency with regard to who is in charge of editing, for how >>> long, and with what sort of remit over a specified term of appointment. In >>> all events, on-going work should not be thrown into jeopardy while >>> seemingly arbitrary changes are made in the leadership, without >>> consultation or consensus. >>> >>> We can and must hope that as a very small community (in the larger >>> scheme of things), between us we will be able to overcome this dispute in >>> such a way as to preserve the mission and vision of the MCLI, best >>> presented in Professor Pollock's essay "What should a Classical Library of >>> India be?" (written for *The Loeb Classical Library and Its Progeny. >>> Proceedings of the First James Loeb Biennial Conference*, edited by >>> Jeffrey Henderson and Richard Thomas, 63–84. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard U. >>> Press, 2020. Available at: >>> https://sheldonpollock.org/archive/pollock_loeb_2020.pdf). >>> >>> His essay shows that every part of this project is integral to its >>> conception, including scholarship, philology, pedagogy, translation, >>> publication, design, printing and dissemination. Right down to the >>> typefaces, everything is part of a plan, with an eye to the future. >>> >>> Since all parties involved are superb at what they do, and since we have >>> so many luminous volumes already in our hands to prove it, let us focus our >>> collective energies on helping resolve the current contretemps speedily >>> and gracefully. It can be done. Especially as educators, we cannot allow >>> pessimism to get the better of us. >>> >>> Texts that have survived and brightened the admittedly often >>> disheartening human condition for centuries can surely make it through and >>> past this transient misunderstanding among our learned colleagues and >>> friends. >>> >>> With all good wishes, >>> >>> Ananya. >>> >>> *Ananya Vajpeyi, Ph.D.* >>> *Fellow, **Centre for the Study of Developing Societies* >>> *29 Rajpur Rd., Civil Lines* >>> *New Delhi 110054, INDIA* >>> *EMAIL: [email protected] <[email protected]>* >>> *CSDS BIO: http://www.csds.in/faculty_ananya_vajpeyi.htm >>> <http://www.csds.in/faculty_ananya_vajpeyi.htm>* >>> *RESEARCH PROJECT: https://www.nilgiri.ugent.be/team/ >>> <https://www.nilgiri.ugent.be/team/>* >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On Wed, Mar 6, 2024 at 1:46 AM Robert P. GOLDMAN via INDOLOGY < >>> [email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Dear Colleagues, >>>> >>>> Attached please find my letter to the Provost at Harvard. >>>> >>>> Bob >>>> >>>> Dr. R.P. Goldman >>>> William and Catherine Magistretti Professor of Sanskrit Emeritus >>>> and >>>> Professor in the Graduate School >>>> Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies >>>> Berkeley, CA 94720-2540 >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> INDOLOGY mailing list >>>> [email protected] >>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >>>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> *Ananya Vajpeyi* >>> https://www.csds.in/ananya_vajpeyi >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> INDOLOGY mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> INDOLOGY mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >>> >> >> >> -- >> Prof. dr. J.A. Silk >> Leiden University >> Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, LIAS >> Matthias de Vrieshof 3, Room 0.05b >> 2311 BZ Leiden >> >> website: www.OpenPhilology.eu >> copies of my publications may be found at >> https://leidenuniv.academia.edu/JASilk >> >> _______________________________________________ >> INDOLOGY mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >> > > > -- > *Ananya Vajpeyi* > https://www.csds.in/ananya_vajpeyi > > > > -- Prof. dr. J.A. Silk Leiden University Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, LIAS Matthias de Vrieshof 3, Room 0.05b 2311 BZ Leiden website: www.OpenPhilology.eu copies of my publications may be found at https://leidenuniv.academia.edu/JASilk
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