Tadeusz Lewicki: Review of 'Clothing for Liberation'

Clothing for Liberation - A Communication Analysis of Gandhi’s Swadeshi Revolution
by Peter Gonsalves
SAGE, 2010.

Comments by Tadeusz Lewicki, Associate professor of Semiotics and Theatre Studies, Salesian University, Rome.

The volume presented by the Author in view of the requested publication by the international publishing house SAGE, is fundamentally composed of the more original part of the thesis presented at the doctorate in the Faculty of the Sciences of Communication [in December 2007]. My approval and praise for the work expressed at that time on the content, method and scientific value of the work is still relevant.

Regarding the compositional structure of the present book meant for publication with SAGE, that is, for an international readership, the author rightly focuses on the analysis of the Swadeshi Revolution from the viewpoint of three approaches, the semiotics of Roland Barthes, the performative approach of Victor Turner and the socio-representational study of Erving Goffman. The result is surprising in its breadth of study on Gandhi. It goes beyond what has already been published on Gandhi as writer and journalist; it show-cases the perspective of the visual image, the mediated creation, the self-made clothing proposed by Gandhi as an instrument of liberation from colonial oppression, not for himself only, but for the entire population of the Indian subcontinent dominated by the British Empire. The methodological rigour and the depth of the research makes interesting reading, especially for the emergence of a new way to look at the figure of the Mahatma.

The last part, dedicated to Gandhian symbolism, represents a courageous thesis of the author which, in my opinion, will provoke a reaction among Gandhian experts and put him at the centre of the discourse. This interest will further a development in the fields of political, international and intercultural communication studies.

The work presented is not a manual, but a scientific study, which can help to promote research in diverse fields of communication and recent history, not only in India, but also the world. The method employed by the author, with certain modifications and adjustments, could stimulate similar research on other revolutionary movements in the history of civilization.

Regarding editorial aspects, an attentive reading of the proper rules for words originating from other languages will ensure its editorial success.

The bibliography is extremely valuable, as also the diagrams, tables and photographs that illustrate and
accompany the author’s text. According to the policy of SAGE, the analytical index at the end will be of great value.

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Tadeusz Lewicki
Associate professor of Semiotics and Theatre Studies,
Faculty of the Sciences of Communication,
Salesian Pontificial University,
Rome

24-05-2009