Dear Jeyamohan,
I read about the classes on Wagner, by Ajithan. The class on Wagner in Tamil Nadu is likely the first of its kind, and I am surprised that nearly 25 people have paid to attend it. It truly challenges the long-standing apathy of Tamil intellectuals. Those who participated in this historic event are lucky; they can tell future generations they were there.
Janardhanan
Dear Janardhanan,
Indeed it is a new start. Generally, our modern intellectual arena has tended to listen primarily to Western political ideas since its origin in the 19th century. Initially, we adopted Western liberalism and democratic ideas, and eventually we embraced leftist ideas. Now we are learning the deconstructive ideas.
But the aesthetic ideas of the West are grand and multidimensional. We got the influence of those ideas through the political ideas. For example, we got ‘realism’ through liberalism. For the first time the pure aesthetics are discussed and learned for the sake of aesthetics. It is definitely a new start.
Moreover, we never discussed pure music and art in detail, because they have no direct political ideas in them. So discussing Wagner is something very new to Tamil cultural scenerio and i hope it will create a new mindset among the young people in future.
Jeyamohan
