Age of entanglement

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Age of Entanglement examines the connections between German and Indian intellectuals from the nineteenth century to the post-World War II era. Kris Manjapra highlights the intertwined ideas and careers of diverse figures from South Asia and Central Europe who engaged with one another's cultures and formed influential networks. This study moves beyond traditional critiques of colonialism, presenting modern intellectual history through the complex interactions of seemingly disparate individuals. Significant collaborations in various fields led to remarkable exchanges, such as Meghnad Saha's meeting with Albert Einstein, Stella Kramrisch's introduction of the Bauhaus to Calcutta, and Girindrasekhar Bose's correspondence with Sigmund Freud. Rabindranath Tagore's efforts to recruit scholars for a new Indian university in Germany and Himanshu Rai's partnership with director Franz Osten to establish Bombay's film industry exemplify these cross-cultural engagements. Manjapra argues that these interactions reflected shared responses to British imperial dominance, as both Germans and Indians sought tools to challenge an Anglocentric world. However, he also notes that such transnational encounters were not inherently progressive; they encompassed a range of ideologies, from Orientalism to socialism, often marked by manipulation as much as cooperation. This work reveals the intricate ties between German and Indian intellectual history, hi