ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the formation and consolidation of transnational modernist dialogues by examining the cultural networks fostered by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda during his consular career in South Asia in the late 1920s and, later, in Buenos Aires. Neruda also condemned the unbridgeable gulf that existed between the white British settlers and the locals, strongly disapproving of the inherent sense of cultural superiority of the British. At the same time, in his Memoirs, Neruda paints a picture of his consular career in South Asia as a formative period during which he occupied a large proportion of his time reading. The fact that Neruda championed Keyt well before his work became critically acclaimed is significant, showing that the young Chilean consul was especially keen to lend his support to a local artist whose early paintings were steeped in his native Kandyan environment and traditions.
