Friends Event: Hindu Thought in Western Literature

In this talk we will look at the influence of Hindu thought on Western literature. We will visit authors, periods, and themes, travelling from ancient times, through the medieval period, buffeted by the European Enlightenment and the Romantics, through German, British, and Americian representatives of the 18th – 20th centuries. We will see if the influence served to distinguish Indian perspectives as desirable or as detestable, or both, and look at issues of concern raised from this creative interaction.