Epistemic Archeology of Ashish Avikunthak

Erin O’Donnell is Associate Professor of History at East Stroudsburg University, USA. Her research and teaching interests include the histories of Bengali, Bangladeshi, and Indian film and photography. Šarunas Paunksnis is Professor at Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania. His current research interests include new media, Indian cinema, posthumanism, postcolonial theory.

• List of ContributorsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgementsIntroductionErin O’Donnell (East Stroudsburg University, USA) and Šarunas Paunksnis (Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania)1. Tantra in Indian Cinema: Ritwik Ghatak and Ashish Avikunthak, a Centennial Memory of the Jagaddal (1920-2020) and a Love StoryAmrit Gangar (Independent Scholar)2. Tantra and the Coloniality of Being: The Decolonial Praxis of Ashish AvikunthakŠarunas Paunksnis (Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania)3. Ashish Avikunthak’s Cinema of Dissent in an Authoritarian AgeErin O’Donnell (East Stroudsburg University, USA)4. Ashish Avikunthak’s Nirakar Chhaya - A Barthesian AdaptationAparna Frank (Hunter College, CUNY, USA)5. Circles of Death in Ashish Avikunthak’s CinemaArka Chattopadhyay (Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, India) 6. Is the World Really as It Appears in Art? Violence as a Civilizational Question in Ashish Avikunthak’s VidhvasthaPratyush Bhattacharyya (UC Santa Barbara, USA)7. Ritual-in-Action: Temporality and Its Discourse in the Films of Ashish AvikunthakHrishikesh Ingle (The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India)8. Sonic Disjunctions: Critical Listening to Ashish Avikunthak’s FilmworksBudhaditya Chattopadhyay (Critical Media Lab, Switzerland)9. Cinematic Practice as Epistemic Archeology: An Interview with Ashish AvikunthakErin O’Donnell (East Stroudsburg University, USA) and Šarunas Paunksnis (Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania)FilmographyIndex

Ashish Avikunthak’s productivity is staggeringly ambitious, consistently captivating, and aesthetically audacious. It might easily be compared to that of Harun Farocki, Werner Herzog, or perhaps even Jean-Luc Godard. This penetrating volume offers a much-needed exploration of Avikunthak’s radical cinematic practice, exploring how his films challenge dominant epistemes and subvert aesthetic conventions. The insightful essays in this book adroitly situate the intellectual and philosophical depth of his work within urgent debates on history, identity, and resistance. Essential reading for those interested in avant-garde cinema, postcolonial thought, and the transformative power of art in turbulent times.