Abstract
“In Lieu of a Conclusion” attempts to locate ancient origins of the terms “East” and “West” by juxtaposing an extract from the Bible—Psalm 103—with part of the Upanishad labelled “Chandogya Upanishad”. Problems are highlighted concerning the conceptualizing of “East” and “West” in purely geographical terms and the consequences of some work which capitalizes on the idea of the “East” and “West” as competing with one another. “In Lieu of a Conclusion” acquiesces with J. Krishnamurti’s suggestion that similarities in the way people think in the East and the West override their differences. Various chapters from Literature, Memory, Hegemony: East/West Crossings are then briefly discussed, especially those which offer promising tools for future research either by drawing attention to (a) literature’s highlighting of “blind spots” in either Western or Eastern historical memory, or (b) “unexpected affinities”.
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Pagan, N.O. (2018). In Lieu of a Conclusion: East and West as Regions of Consciousness. In: Gabriel, S., Pagan, N. (eds) Literature, Memory, Hegemony. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-9001-1_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-9001-1_10
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