Nationalism contributing to Globalisation

Makarand Sathe, a noted playwright, novelist, dramatist and director, feels that nationalism is defined as the ideology of a creating nation state that binds the people of the country in an overarching identity.

Speaking at the inaugural lecture of 11^th edition of D.D Kosambi Festival of ideas on February 13 at Kala Academy, Sathe dealt on the issue of ‘nationalism, culture and theatre: in times of globalization’. He said that in India there were multiples identities of ethnicities, sub ethnicities, religions, and to some extent castes.

“So when nationalism was formulated, it wasn’t easy to follow the concept of European nationalism where nationality was defined by language or culture, and sometimes in the earlier medieval period, as race or religion. Hence, nationalism in India was very liberal that you could keep your sub identities and ethnicities as important as your national identity,” he said.

He said that culture was a way of life. It comprises of language, religion and specific lifestyles. It can never be easy to define culture because there exists no static definition of it. Culture can be of two types; one that defines a contemporary way and other that is selective and glorifies a certain section. He went on to add that theatre gave rise to tensions or what is known as series of dramatic events by projecting the social events.

Speaking on modern globalization, Sathe said that, globalization is in fact an integration of various fragments which includes various cultures and identities and the lack of dialogue within these fragments tends to create chaos in the society.

AUSTIN DIAS | NT GoGoaNow

Pic Credit - Shivang Mishra I NT GOGOANOW.COM