[INDOLOGY] MLCI

Wed Mar 6 21:08:41 UTC 2024

Just very briefly: my objection was to the claim of a "call for the boycott
of Israel," which the linked article itself makes quite clear was not at
all the case.

Jonathan Silk

On Wed, Mar 6, 2024 at 5:53 PM Ananya Vajpeyi <vajpeyi at csds.in> wrote:

> Dear Professor Silk,
>
> The Wire is currently the most credible independent media outlet in India.
> Respectfully, I dare say I would not dismiss their reportage as unreliable.
> (*Full disclosure*: I write for them sometimes, and have written over
> many years for all their founding editors and current editors, who were
> earlier associated with major mainstream newspapers and media houses like
> the Hindu, the Indian Express, the Economic Times, the BBC and so on).
>
> Ranjit Hoskote is a well-known and well-regarded poet, translator, art
> critic, curator and cultural theorist. He took a principled stand against
> canceling Palestinian artists and intellectuals in Germany, and was labeled
> "anti-semitic" for this, following which he resigned his position from the
> 'finding committee' for Documenta. His colleagues followed him:
> https://thewire.in/rights/no-space-in-germany-for-open-exchange-of-ideas-after-hoskote-other-documenta-panel-members-quit
>
> Without getting into the polarised politics in Germany at the moment,
> which has affected many academics and writers of all nationalities who have
> tried to speak out on Gaza, both Ranjit Hoskote and Mini Krishnan are
> perfectly qualified members of an editorial board for a series like the
> MCLI.
>
> The issue is only that they are concerned with literature, translation and
> humanistic scholarship in a much broader sense, while the actual editing
> work requires philogical training and historical competence of a very
> different order. You will agree that the two types of board members can
> complement one another, but they cannot do the same things interchangeably.
>
> Professor Pollock had invited eminent writers and intellectuals from the
> Indian languages like Girish Karnad and U.R. Ananthamurthy to write short
> prefaces to some of the Clay Sanskrit Library translations, with an eye to
> broadening the readership beyond specialists. But the technical aspects of
> editing and translation were still the job of others like him and the team
> of scholars who worked on the Clay series. I imagine the same holds true
> for the MCLI.
>
> We still don't have an explanation for why the 5 members who put out the
> statement (Cox, Venkatesan et al) were dismissed, nor have we heard who
> they will be replaced by, or when.
>
> With kind regards,
>
> Ananya.
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 6, 2024 at 8:13 PM Jonathan Silk via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> With thanks to Patrick for the link, I fear that what it presents is--at
>> least as far as I can quickly tell--not in some respects reliable, which
>> cannot help but cast doubt on the whole.
>>
>> I confess my unfamiliarity with the two newly appointed members of the
>> editorial board, and I don't --for this and other reasons--have any
>> intention of commenting on this. I want to say only this:
>>
>> I quote from the article directly:
>>
>> Hoskote is an internationally renowned art curator and poet from Mumbai.
>> He was in the news a few months ago
>> <https://m.thewire.in/article/the/curator-ranjit-hoskote-resigns-from-documentas-finding-committee-over-anti-semitism-allegations/amp>
>> when his criticism of Hindutva and Zionism and an earlier call for the
>> boycott of Israel prompted the German government to threaten withdrawal of
>> financial support from the ‘Documenta’ art event unless it ended its
>> association with him.
>>
>> If one goes to the linked article and reads it fully (and did the
>> reporter who cited it not do this?), one learns that the portrayal in the
>> sentence here of Mr Hoskote's position is entirely erroneous. I repeat that
>> I am unfamiliar with him, and intend to express no views about him or about
>> the Murty affair. I only want to question the reporting here which as far
>> as I can see has little relation to the reality of what apparently took
>> place between him and the Greman organization with which he was earlier
>> connected.
>>
>> If this sets or indicates the tone of what we can further expect for
>> reporting on this affair, we are in trouble.
>>
>> Jonathan
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 6, 2024 at 3:26 PM Patrick Olivelle via INDOLOGY <
>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>
>>> Here is a Wire report on the issue:
>>>
>>> [image: Untitled-design-6-800x400.jpg]
>>>
>>> Exits Rock Murty Classical Library, Once Feted for New Translations of
>>> Rare Manuscripts
>>> <https://thewire.in/books/murty-classical-library-five-resignations>
>>> thewire.in
>>> <https://thewire.in/books/murty-classical-library-five-resignations>
>>> <https://thewire.in/books/murty-classical-library-five-resignations>
>>>
>>> Patrick
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mar 5, 2024, at 11:08 PM, Ananya Vajpeyi via INDOLOGY <
>>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> Thank you for your excellent letter, Professor Goldman.
>>>
>>> Given the discussion here on Indology, this much seems clear: It is in
>>> everyone's interest that a project as stellar as the MCLI continue to
>>> produce editions and translations of the Indian classics across languages,
>>> as it has done for a decade under the General Editorship of Sheldon
>>> Pollock, together with different sets of section editors looking after
>>> different languages, and with the exceptional publication capacities and
>>> standards of HUP (to which I can testify from my own experience as an
>>> author, albeit not in this series).
>>>
>>> Since pretty much everyone with the requisite linguistic, philological,
>>> textual and literary expertise (in various classical languages) anywhere in
>>> the world is already involved and invested in the MCLI; since we are all in
>>> this together as translators, editors, readers, and teachers, we do want
>>> the series to continue, and for it to maintain its high quality into the
>>> foreseeable future.
>>>
>>> Like with any group endeavour, some housekeeping and some moving around
>>> of personnel is inevitable and wouldn't surprise any of us in academia,
>>> with our committees and departments routinely going through these sorts of
>>> cycles, and not always smoothly.
>>>
>>> In this case, given what Archana and her co-editors have brought to our
>>> attention, it seems entirely fair to ask for a review or audit of the MCLI,
>>> i.e., more transparency with regard to who is in charge of editing, for how
>>> long, and with what sort of remit over a specified term of appointment. In
>>> all events, on-going work should not be thrown into jeopardy while
>>> seemingly arbitrary changes are made in the leadership, without
>>> consultation or consensus.
>>>
>>> We can and must hope that as a very small community (in the larger
>>> scheme of things), between us we will be able to overcome this dispute in
>>> such a way as to preserve the mission and vision of the MCLI, best
>>> presented in Professor Pollock's essay "What should a Classical Library of
>>> India be?" (written for *The Loeb Classical Library and Its Progeny.
>>> Proceedings of the First James Loeb Biennial Conference*, edited by
>>> Jeffrey Henderson and Richard Thomas, 63–84. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard U.
>>> Press, 2020. Available at:
>>> https://sheldonpollock.org/archive/pollock_loeb_2020.pdf).
>>>
>>> His essay shows that every part of this project is integral to its
>>> conception, including scholarship, philology, pedagogy, translation,
>>> publication, design, printing and dissemination. Right down to the
>>> typefaces, everything is part of a plan, with an eye to the future.
>>>
>>> Since all parties involved are superb at what they do, and since we have
>>> so many luminous volumes already in our hands to prove it, let us focus our
>>> collective energies on helping resolve the current contretemps speedily
>>> and gracefully. It can be done. Especially as educators, we cannot allow
>>> pessimism to get the better of us.
>>>
>>> Texts that have survived and brightened the admittedly often
>>> disheartening human condition for centuries can surely make it through and
>>> past this transient misunderstanding among our learned colleagues and
>>> friends.
>>>
>>> With all good wishes,
>>>
>>> Ananya.
>>>
>>> *Ananya Vajpeyi, Ph.D.*
>>> *Fellow, **Centre for the Study of Developing Societies*
>>> *29 Rajpur Rd., Civil Lines*
>>> *New Delhi 110054, INDIA*
>>> *EMAIL: vajpeyi at csds.in <vajpeyi at csds.in>*
>>> *CSDS BIO: http://www.csds.in/faculty_ananya_vajpeyi.htm
>>> <http://www.csds.in/faculty_ananya_vajpeyi.htm>*
>>> *RESEARCH PROJECT: https://www.nilgiri.ugent.be/team/
>>> <https://www.nilgiri.ugent.be/team/>*
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Mar 6, 2024 at 1:46 AM Robert P. GOLDMAN via INDOLOGY <
>>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dear Colleagues,
>>>>
>>>> Attached please find my letter to the Provost at Harvard.
>>>>
>>>> Bob
>>>>
>>>> Dr. R.P. Goldman
>>>> William and Catherine Magistretti Professor of Sanskrit Emeritus
>>>> and
>>>> Professor in the Graduate School
>>>> Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies
>>>> Berkeley, CA 94720-2540
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>>>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> *Ananya Vajpeyi*
>>> https://www.csds.in/ananya_vajpeyi
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Prof. dr. J.A. Silk
>> Leiden University
>> Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, LIAS
>> Matthias de Vrieshof 3, Room 0.05b
>> 2311 BZ Leiden
>>
>> website: www.OpenPhilology.eu
>> copies of my publications may be found at
>> https://leidenuniv.academia.edu/JASilk
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>
>
>
> --
> *Ananya Vajpeyi*
> https://www.csds.in/ananya_vajpeyi
>
>
>
>

-- 
Prof. dr. J.A. Silk
Leiden University
Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, LIAS
Matthias de Vrieshof 3, Room 0.05b
2311 BZ Leiden

website: www.OpenPhilology.eu
copies of my publications may be found at
https://leidenuniv.academia.edu/JASilk
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20240306/b6972afe/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Untitled-design-6-800x400.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 47028 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20240306/b6972afe/attachment.jpg>