Academic Contributions Extended Through Podcasts and Book Reviews by Anamitra Ghosh

Anamitra Ghosh, PhD Student at the History Department of the South Asia Institute  has recently expanded his academic activities. He interviewed Vanya Vaidehi Bhargav about her most recent publication Being Hindu, Being Indian: Lala Lajpat Rai's Ideas of Nationhood (Penguin Random House India, 2024). This book provides a nuanced analysis of Lajpat Rai’s nationalist thought, challenging its traditional association with Savarkarite Hindutva and highlighting the complexity of Hindu nationalism. It traces Rai’s evolution towards Indian nationalist narratives and critiques simplistic binaries between Hindu communal politics and secular nationalism, arguing for the importance of understanding the tensions between Hindu politics and secularism. Dr. Bhargav, an intellectual historian of modern South Asia, brings her expertise in nationalism, secularism, and political thought to this detailed study.

In addition, Anamitra Ghosh published in the journal Sound Studies,  a book review “Listen Closely: African Voices in German (Colonial) Sound Archives” about the book Knowing by ear: listening to voice recordings with African prisoners of war in German camps (1915–1918), by Anette Hoffmann, Durham, Duke University Press, 2024.  Anette Hoffmann's Knowing by Ear explores the acoustic recordings of African prisoners of war captured during World War I as historical sources, rather than mere linguistic samples. Through these recordings, Hoffmann uncovers new perspectives on colonialism, war, and the experiences of individuals from Senegal, Somalia, Togo, and Congo. By combining these voices with written records, photographs, and artworks, she personalizes the narratives and highlights the significance of acoustic archives in recovering the historical voices of colonized subjects and critiquing colonial knowledge production.