ABSTRACT
Touching upon the debate concerning spoken languages versus literary languages, this chapter discusses the influence of the living and the so-called extinct. Asserting that the so-called dead languages are in fact dormant rather than dead, Greek, Sanskrit, and Latin are seen against the background of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The chapter questions the very notions of ‘dead’ language and ‘dead’ culture.
Europe’s successful accommodation of pagan culture alongside conversion to Christianity, as also the role played by Dante in this process, provide the main plank for the chapter. Was it Europe’s readiness to accept its past as necessary for the future that indeed helped in the progress of the Western world? And, by the same token, is their inability precisely to do this responsible for the turbulence and turmoil the Islamic societies are going through today? The chapter tries to bring these basic questions within the scope of discussion.
Another primary question posed is: Is it necessary to transform what is probably a most open, secular, and free dharma into a ‘Hindu religion’ in order to ‘confront’ the organised influence of the religions of Christianity and Islam? This is followed with a consideration of the problems faced by English and Christianity in its act of spreading worldwide.
