Talk about Town

I had attended Arundhati Virmani’s book launch at the IIC, and now she and her husband, Jean Boutier, are back in Delhi. Jean is a visiting professor at JNU’s Institute of Advanced Studies, and he will be in Delhi till August end; alas too short a time.

They are now doing a talk on “Undressing political icons: Europe and India compared” at the Attic in CP.

The readers of this blog are cordially invited to this talk. The exact time and venue will be confirmed, but if you want more details do leave an e-mail on the blog site, and I will revert back to you.






Arundhati Virmani was Reader in History at Delhi University until 1992, when she moved to France. Today she teaches at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales Marseille. Her publications include an essay in Past and Present, as well as two books: ‘India 1900–1947. Un Britannique au cœur du Raj’ (Paris, Autrement, 2002), and ‘Inde. Une Puissance en mutation’ Her latest book is ‘A National Flag for India. Rituals, Nationalism and the Politics of Sentiment’ was published by Permanent Black last year.

Jean Boutier is a Professor of European History at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Former fellow of the Ecole Francaise de Rome and the European University Institute in Florence he has worked on a comparative history of European societies in the early modern period. His focus is on the cultural patterns of European aristocracies. His recent works include: ‘Un tour de Framce royal 156-1567’ ‘Passe Recompose’’ Les Plans de Paris des origines a 1800’, ‘Florence et la Toscane, X1Ve-X1X siecles’, ‘Les dynamiques d’un Etat Italien’, Les mileux intellectuals Italiens, Naples, Rome, Florence, 17e-18e siecles’.