This is an analytical study of an important phase of Indian Culture by an Indian thinker who made significant contributions to it for more than twenty-five years. D.P. Mukerji was a pioneer in the field of sociology of culture. This work is an endeavour to focus upon an area, which was dear to his heart. The British rule in India produced, among other things, a pseudo-middle class quite unlike their namesake elsewhere. They had no morrings in the social, economic and cultural traditions; they lost contact with the people. Yet they acquired a few values which were not in the bargain. These were badly grafted on the drying stock. But it was inevitable in view of the political purposes and economic motives of the rulers who set the pattern of culture. The author traces the consequences of this historical denial in the various aspects of the Indian renaissance—Literature, Religion, Art and Music. His socio-economic approach enables him to offer for the first time a synthetic account of the process which may be said to have ended in August 1947. This volume, therefore, is essential for the understanding of India of the recent past no less than for framing the immediate issues involved in the task of building Indian Culture on surer foundations. It is hoped that this work will continue to interest sociologists and scholars in the related fields. CONTENTS 1. THE MYSTICAL OUTLOOK 2. CULTURAL UNITY AND SOCIAL PROCESSES 3. ECONOMIC PROCESS AND THE ‘MIDDLE CLASS’ 4. EDUCATION AND SOCIAL MOBILITY 5. LITERATURE AND CLASS-EXPRESSION 6. SOCIOLOGY OF MODERN INDIAN MUSIC 7. REVIVAL OF FINE ARTS 8. THE IMMEDIATE PROBLEM ABOUT THE AUTHOR / EDITOR Dhurjati Prasad Mukerji (1894–1961) was a novelist, essayist, critic, economist and sociologist. Popularly called as DP, he was one of the founding fathers of sociology in India. His name denotes a specific milieu of thought, culture and civilisation. DP contributed the perspective of Marxian sociology in India. He taught Sociology and Economics at the Universities of Lucknow and Aligarh. Lucknow University underwent a progressive transformation during his fairly long presence of thirty-two years. He retired as Professor and Head of the Department in 1954. For one year (1953) he served as a Visiting Professor of Sociology at the International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague. After his retirement from the University of Lucknow, he was invited to the Chair of Economics at the University of Aligarh, which he occupied with great distinction during his last five years of active academic life. He was the first President of the Indian Sociological Conference. He also remained the Vice-President of the International Sociological Association. DP was an outstanding Indian whose versatile interests have made landmarks not only in the field of sociology but also in economics, literature, music and art.