DEUTSCH
The Multinational State of India
Date: 24th July 2011
Time: 02.00 PM
Space: Hall Cardiff (Millennium Hotel)
Which lessons can Europe learn from India? Where the co-existence of many languages and peoples is concerned, Indians have a much more relaxed attitude compared to Europeans. In the Tea Talk 'The Multinational State of India – Opportunities and Challenges Arising from Multilingualism in India', Dr. Albrecht Frenz and Sunsanne Faller of Linden-Museum Stuttgart will briefly present the major alphabets and languages of the different Indian regions. “In spite of linguistic diversity, a spirit of togetherness exists in India, conveyed by the term 'Indianness' – being Indian”, Dr. Frenz explains. This concept of ' being Indian' has developed over thousands of years. Theatres which travel from village to village and mainly perform plays from the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana play a prominent role in this connection. The same applies to local theatre and dance traditions, which also focus on the Indian epics. In addition, wandering saints called 'Sadhus' travel India from the North to the South and from the West to the East, in the course of their life. This way they meet people from all walks of life and communicate their thoughts and ideas to them. Political events such as the Kargil War or the terror attack in Mumbai have strengthened the feeling of a shared identity across any boundaries imposed by language, caste or religion in the recent past. Although the various Indian states cultivate their own languages which sometimes causes problems, the people are committed to the unity of India. It is not unusual for Indians to speak several Indian languages as well as English and thus be able to communicate with each other across a country as large as Europe. According to Susanne Faller, it is especially the Sanskrit language which is inseparable from Indian culture. “Composed with poetic beauty and in scientific accuracy, the Sanskrit texts are the very foundations of Hinduism, mythology, art and science in all parts of India. The linguistic diversity allows for the expression of the various cultural identities of the multifaceted and geographically diverse country”, she says. However, due to the great number of different languages and alphabets, communication problems may arise for such Indians who do not speak English. In addition, the definition of borders in accordance with language regions gave rise to conflict in some places.
Speakers
After graduating from Kreisgymnasium Hochschwarzwald in Titisee-Neustadt with Abitur (A-levels equivalent), Susanne Faller of Linden-Museum first studied Mineralogy and Romance Studies (without graduation) at the University of Freiburg and in 2004 completed her studies in Ethnology and Indology there with a Master of Arts. Subsequently she developed and implemented the concept for the showcase exhibition 'Getreide und Medizin' at the Adelhauser Museum of Natural History and Ethnology in Freiburg. In 2005 she prepared the exhibition 'Indische Gottheiten. Die Schenkung Eggmann' at the Museum der Kulturen in Basle. Since 2006 she has been receiving basic training by the Medical Society for Qigong Yangsheng e.V. and doing her doctorate in Indology on the topic of 'Indische Giftheilkunde'. She has been working as a trainee and scientific staff member at the South Asian department of Linden-Museum in Stuttgart and was a curator for the following exhibitions: 'Die Spur der Tränen – Ein Märchen aus Indien', 'Indiens Tibet – Tibets Indien' and 'Weltsichten – Blick über den Tellerrand'.
Albrecht Frenz grew up on a farm in the Hohenlohe district, became an agriculturist and improved the degree of his education to the standard of A-levels. He then studied Indology, Classical Archaeology,
Religious Studies and Protestant Theology in Göttingen, Marburg and Hamburg. He gained his doctorate at the University of Marburg with a dissertation in Vedic Sanskrit und completed his Theology studies with the university examination of the University of Hamburg as well as the examination of the Regional Church in Stuttgart. In 1969 he became a pastor of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg, from 1874-77 he was a lecturer at Kamaraj University Madurai and at the Tamilnadu Theological Seminary in Madurai, South India. From 1980 he devoted himself to the life and work of Dr. Hermann Gundert – the grandfather of Hermann Hesse – and together with Dr. Scaria Zacharia, a professor of Malayalam in Kerala, published several volumes on the topic in Germany and Kerala. For over thirty years he visited South India regularly, mostly for lectures, conferences and seminaries. Since his retirement in the year 2000, he has published a number of books and has been committing himself to Indo-German issues, spanning different religions and society groups. In 2006 he was awarded with the Rabindranath Tagore Kulturpreis of the Indo-German Society. On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Hermann Mögling, a friend of Gundert and his associate in South India, Albrecht Frenz organized the Mögling Festival from 27th May though 3rd June 2011, with events taking place in Brackenheim, Stuttgart, Esslingen, Tübingen and Untergruppenbach.
