Brown Bag Biography with Keya Ganguly

March 13, 12:00pm - 1:15pm
Mānoa Campus, Kuykendall 410

The Center for Biographical Research presents: / “Religion and Revolution: Aurobindo Ghose and Indian Independence”/ Keya Ganguly, Professor in the Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota / Exploring the brief though decisive years between 1905-1910, this lecture centers on the figure of Aurobindo Ghose (1872-1950)—poet, polyglot, mystic, and revolutionary leader of the nationalist movement in early twentieth-century India. Aurobindo, whom the British considered the “most dangerous man” in the anticolonial struggle, inaugurated a form of organized and militant resistance that defined the subsequent course of Indian independence. Yet, neither his political philosophy nor his development of the conceptual terms of anticolonial nationalism have received their due (a prime example is his formulation of “passive resistance”—an idea almost universally, if erroneously, attributed to the later efforts of M.K. Gandhi). Moreover, Aurobindo’s spiritual legacy has been usurped by contemporary forces of the Hindu right in India. My objective is to show how Aurobindo reshaped the discourse of religion by turning conventional principles of Hinduism towards more open-ended conceptions of shakti (force), consciousness, and enlightenment, in the service of a non-sectarian vision of political freedom that continues to resonate in the present. / Speaker Bio / Cosponsored by Hamilton Library, the School for Cinematic Arts, the Center for Oral History, the School of Communication and Information, Conflict and Peace Specialist, Center for South Asian Studies and the Departments of English, Ethnic Studies, History, Political Science / March 13th, 2025 / Kuykendall 410 / 12PM to 1:15PM HST


Event Sponsor
Center for Biographical Research, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Keoni Rodriguez, 8582753177, jjkq@hawaii.edu

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