An extraordinary study of the politics of representation, The Rumour of Calcutta explores the discursive construction of a 'city of intensities'. John Hutnyk analyses representations of Calcutta in a wide variety of discourses: in the gossip and traveller-lore of backpackers and volunteer charity workers; in writing - from classic literature to travel guides; in cinema, photography and maps.

Throughout, the focus is on the technologies of representation which frame experiences of Calcutta, particularly Calcutta as decay. Hutnyk shows how specific practices and technologies - of tourism, representation and experience - intricately combine to reinforce and replicate the conditions of contemporary cultural and economic inequality.

A provocative and original reading of both Heidegger and Marx, the book also draws upon writers as diverse as Spivak, Trinh, Jameson, Clifford, Virilio, Bataille, Derrida, Deleuze and Guattari. As such it is essential reading for students and scholars in cultural studies, anthropology, development, urban studies and sociology.