Portrayal of the Crowds in the Works of Elias Canetti

Crowds have always played an undisputedly transforming role in societies around the world. From Crusades to the nationalistic crowds of Hitler, from the non-violent crowds of Mahatma Gandhi to the Arab Spring or the secular crowds joining together to form festive crowds in India or even the crowds as we experience them today in the virtual world of social networks, this phenomenon has fascinated and occupied the thoughts and imaginations of many thinkers, poets and sociologists. Elias Canetti, with his seminal work Crowds and Power stands out with his immensely rich and expansive study on crowds. This book analyses the crowds in Canetti’s works and makes a scholarly attempt to relate his crowd theories to the present-day world, especially to the crowds that have influenced us during the last twenty-five years across the world; with a particular reference to the crowds in India and those in today’s virtual world of Internet.