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A sketch of blissful actions and democracy based upon rasa

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Abstract

Contemporary democracy has given primacy to thought. Building up institutions on thought and reasoned discourse excludes out human actions derived not from thought that one thinks. Ordinary life is visited by emotion and passion. Such actions of unknown origin are captured best in the drama. Indian theory and practice of drama and the poetics offer communion between the performer and the viewer. Blissful relish of the actions and the dialogues lift up the banal actions from the ordinary to a state beyond simple event. Relishing thus resides in cognition. Drama in theory and in its practice thus offers foundation to institutions that could embrace independent actions as well. In relish there is cognition and reasoning alone cannot lay claim. Folk life and folk actions thus could be emancipatory.

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Correspondence to Parthasarathi Banerjee.

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Banerjee, P. A sketch of blissful actions and democracy based upon rasa. AI & Soc 21, 93–120 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-006-0044-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-006-0044-7

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