Cordial Cold War: Cultural Actors in India and the German Democratic Republic (Politics and Society in India and the Global South)

Cordial Cold War examines cultural entanglements, in various forms, between two distant yet interconnected sites of the Cold War―India and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Focusing on theatre performances, film festivals, newsreels, travel literature, radio broadcasting, cartography and art as sites of engagement, the chapters spotlight spaces of interaction that emerged in spite of, and within, the ambits of Cold War constraints. The inter-disciplinary collection sheds light on the variegated nature of translocal cultural entanglements, at work even before the GDR was officially recognized as a sovereign state by India in 1972. By foregrounding the role of actors, their practices and the sites of their entanglement, the contributions show how creative energies were mobilized to forge zones of friendship, mutual interest and envisioned solidarities. This volume situates actors from the Global South as mutual co-shapers of the cultural Cold War, therein shifting its Euro-American and Soviet epicenters to Non-Aligned India. Going beyond official state channels of international political dialogue, it locates cordiality in the micro-histories and everyday experiences of interpersonal engagements, bringing to focus a hitherto underexplored chapter of India–Germany entanglements. "Cordial Cold War examines cultural entanglements, in various forms, between two distant yet interconnected sites of the Cold War-India and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Focusing on theatre performances, film festivals, newsreels, travel literature, radio broadcasting, cartography and art as sites of engagement, the chapters spotlight actual spaces of interaction that emerged in spite of, and within, the ambits of Cold War constraints. The inter-disciplinary collection of contributions sheds light on the variegated nature of translocal cultural entanglements. By foregrounding the role of actors, their practices and the sites of their entanglement, the book exposes how creative energies were mobilized to forge zones of friendship, mutual interest and envisioned solidarities. This book situates actors from the Global South as mutual co-shapers of the cultural Cold War, therein shifting its Euro-American and Soviet epicenters to Non-Aligned India. Going beyond official state channels of international political dialogue, the book locates cordiality in the micro-histories and everyday experiences of interpersonal engagements, bringing to focus a hitherto underexplored chapter of India-Germany entanglements. Anandita Bajpai is a Research Fellow at Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin"-- Provided by publisher Cordial Cold War examines cultural entanglements, in various forms, between two distant yet interconnected sites of the Cold War - India and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Focusing on theatre performances, film festivals, newsreels, travel literature, radio broadcasting, cartography and art as sites of engagement, the chapters spotlight actual spaces of interaction that emerged in spite of, and within, the ambits of Cold War constraints. The inter-disciplinary collection of contributions sheds light on the variegated nature of translocal cultural entanglements. By foregrounding the role of actors, their practices and the sites of their entanglement, the book exposes how creative energies were mobilized to forge zones of friendship, mutual interest and envisioned solidarities. This book situates actors from the Global South as mutual co-shapers of the cultural Cold War, therein shifting its Euro-American and Soviet epicenters to Non-Aligned India. Going beyond official state channels of international political dialogue, the book locates cordiality in the micro-histories and everyday experiences of interpersonal engagements, bringing to focus a hitherto underexplored chapter of India - Germany entanglements. Cover 1 Sage History 2 Half title 4 Series page 5 Full title 8 Copyright 9 CONTENTS 10 LIST OF FIGURES 12 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 14 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 16 INTRODUCTION—CORDIAL COLD WAR 20 CHAPTER 1 COLLABORATIVE DIALOGUES ACROSS THEATRICAL PUBLIC SPHERES 52 CHAPTER 2 WARM WAVELENGTHS 82 CHAPTER 3 GDR TRAVEL WRITING ON INDIA 130 CHAPTER 4 ENTANGLEMENTS IN CARTOGRAPHY AND ARCHITECTURE BETWEEN SOCIALISTGERMANY AND INDIA,1949–1989 150 CHAPTER 5 A WITNESS TO HISTORY 172 CHAPTER 6 BRECHT BETWEEN THE GDR AND MARATHI STAGE 198 CHAPTER 7 COLD WAR ENTANGLEMENTS 228 CHAPTER 8 ‘EXPRESSIVITY’ IN THE ART COLLECTIVES OF INDIA 244 CHAPTER 9 GDR–INDIA ENCOUNTERS BEFORE DIPLOMATIC RECOGNITION 270 ABOUT THE EDITOR ANDCONTRIBUTORS 298 INDEX 302