The Lost Land of Lemuria : Fabulous Geographies, Catastrophic Histories

During the nineteenth century, Lemuria was imagined as a land that once bridged India and Africa but disappeared into the ocean millennia ago, much like Atlantis. A sustained meditation on a lost place from a lost time, this elegantly written book is the first to explore Lemuria's incarnations across cultures, from Victorian-era science to Euro-American occultism to colonial and postcolonial India. The Lost Land of Lemuria widens into a provocative exploration of the poetics and politics of loss to consider how this sentiment manifests itself in a fascination with vanished homelands, hidden civilizations, and forgotten peoples. More than a consideration of nostalgia, it shows how ideas once entertained but later discarded in the metropole can travel to the periphery--and can be appropriated by those seeking to construct a meaningful world within the disenchantment of modernity. Sumathi Ramaswamy ultimately reveals how loss itself has become a condition of modernity, compelling us to rethink the politics of imagination and creativity in our day.

This path-breaking book makes novel and riveting connections between scientists and occultists in the West and Tamil nationalists in
India. Ramaswamy's history of the fabulous and lost continent of Lemuria is a brilliant demonstration of how imagination travels.—Dipesh Chakrabarty, author of Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference

Sumathi Ramaswamy's important book is sure to ignite fresh interest in the place of lost lands in the modern imaginary. Her fascinating account of the least known of these—Lemuria—breathes new life into the centrality of 'labors of loss' in nationalist historiography.
In refusing to dismiss such narratives as eccentric and inconsequential, Ramaswamy compels scholars to look anew at the fabulous and occult in order to understand the shaping of scientific and colonial modernity. Impeccably researched and elegantly written, this is altogether a marvelous read.—Gauri Viswanathan, Columbia University, author of Outside the Fold: Conversion, Modernity, and Belief

During the nineteenth century, Lemuria was imagined as a land that once bridged India and Africa but disappeared into the ocean millennia ago, much like Atlantis. A sustained meditation on a lost place from a lost time, this book explores Lemuria's incarnations across cultures, from Victorian-era science to Euro-American occultism to colonial and postcolonial India. This book widens into a provocative exploration of the poetics and politics of loss to consider how this sentiment manifests itself in a fascination with vanished homelands, hidden civilizations, and forgotten peoples. More than a consideration of nostalgia, it shows how ideas once entertained but later discarded in the metropole can travel to the periphery — and can be appropriated by those seeking to construct a meaningful world within the disenchantment of modernity. The book ultimately reveals how loss itself has become a condition of modernity, compelling us to rethink the politics of imagination and creativity in our day "During the nineteenth century, Lemuria was imagined as a land that once bridged India and Africa but disappeared into the ocean millennia ago, much like Atlantis. A sustained meditation on a lost place from a lost time, this book is the first to explore Lemuria's incarnations across cultures, from Victorian-era science to Euro-American occultism to colonial and postcolonial India. The Lost Land of Lemuria widens into an exploration of the poetics and politics of loss to consider how this sentiment manifests itself in a fascination with vanished homelands, hidden civilizations, and forgotten peoples. More than a consideration of nostalgia, it shows how ideas once entertained but later discarded in the metropole can travel to the periphery - and can be appropriated by those seeking to construct a meaningful world within the disenchantment of modernity."--BOOK JACKET. During the nineteenth century, Lemuria was imagined as a land that once bridged India and Africa but that disappeared into the ocean millennia ago, much like Atlantis. A sustained meditation on a lost place from a lost time, this elegantly written book is the first to explore Lemuria's incarnations across cultures, from Victorian-era science to Euro-American occultism to colonial and postcolonial India. Superbly researched, The Lost Land of Lemuria widens into a provocative exploration of the poetics and politics of loss to consider how this sentiment manifests itself in a fascination with vanished homelands, hidden civilizations, and forgotten peoples, ultimately revealing how loss itself has become a condition of modernity. Illustrations: 10 line illustrations Annotation This Is A Fascinating Study Of Lemuria--a Mythical Continent Which Was Once Believed To Bridge The Land Masses Of India And Africa Millennia Ago Before Ultimately Sinking Into The Indian Sea. Like The Lost City Of Atlantis, Many People--from Theosophists To Tamil Nationalists--have Considered Lemuria Their Lost Cradle Of Civilization. Placing Loss -- Science In The Service Of Loss -- Occult Losses -- Living Loss At Land's End -- Flooding History : Geographies Of Loss -- Mapping Loss -- Laboring Against Loss. Sumathi Ramaswamy. A Philip E. Lilienthal Book--p. Facing T.p. Includes Bibliographic References (p. 297-324) And Index. ILLUSTRATIONS......Page 12 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 14 NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION......Page 18 1 Placing Loss......Page 20 2 Science in the Service of Loss......Page 38 3 Occult Losses......Page 72 4 Living Loss at Land’s End......Page 116 5 Flooding History: Geographies of Loss......Page 156 6 Mapping Loss......Page 201 7 Laboring against Loss......Page 242 NOTES......Page 254 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 316 INDEX......Page 344