English and American poets have often expressed their desire to escape the 'body' in search of a life of 'intellect.' Yeats doesn't want to be caught in 'sensual music.' Wallace Stevens celebrates intellect saying the jar 'took dominion.' It is intellect that creates art, and hence it has to be put above senses.
On the other hand Indian poets have accepted the body and the emotions along with mind. Avvaiyaar's hymn on Vinayagar celebrates the balance between body, soul and intellect.
The book 'Body, Emotion and Mind' [2013] edited by Martin Tamcke discusses questions of social constructions of the body. The Europeans or others who came to India have described the Indian bodies as black, naked and so on.
Human categorization of humanity is based on body and society creates theories based on colour and shape. Escaping from this body politics is one of the main themes of European literature.
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