Indian Classical Literature by Kundu, Tanmoy; Panda, Ujjwal Kr.;

Short description:

This book critically analyses classical Indian literature and explores the philosophical, literary, and cultural landscapes which have emerged in response to ancient Indian texts.

Long description:

This book critically analyses classical Indian literature and explores the philosophical, literary, and cultural landscapes which have emerged in response to ancient Indian texts. It highlights the relevance of these texts and studies and how they have come to influence modern Indian literature in various ways. The authors look at classical literature both as a theoretical premise that primarily seeks to develop new knowledge and as a sphere of serious modern/postmodern critical attention. The volume features essays on key texts including Abhijnanasakuntalam, The Cilappatikaram: A Tale of An Anklet, Mrichchakatika, Panchatantra, and Mahabharata.

A useful guide to ancient Indian texts, the book will be indispensable for students and researchers of mythology and classical literature, literary and critical theory, Indian literature, Sanskrit studies, and South Asian studies.

Table of Contents:

List of Contributors vii Foreword by Kevin McGrath xPreface by Albrecht Classen xi Acknowledgements xx Introduction 1 TANMOY KUNDU AND UJJWAL KR.PANDA PART I Natyasastra 15 1 The ‘Feminine’ Construction in Indian Classical Drama: A Study Based on Bharatmuni’s Natyasastra 17 GUTIMALI GOSWAMI PART II Abhijnanasakuntalam 27 2 ‘Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained’: Rethinking the Genealogy of Environmentalism and Mythology in Kalidasa’s The Recognition of Sakuntala 29 INDRAJIT MUKHERJEE 3 A Saga of Erotic Love and Juxtaposition of Contraries: A Study of Kâlidâsa’s Abhijñānaśākuntalam 43 SOUMYADEEP CHAKRABORTY 4 Shakuntala in Kalidasa: Reiterating the Known Tales 51 SARANYA MUKHERJEE 5 ‘Creatures of the Woods’: Abhijnanasakuntalam and Kalidasa’s Nature Principle 59 SANJUKTA CHATTERJEE PART III The Mahabharata 71 6 Alliance of Krishna and Arjuna in the Mahabharata 73 SUBHAM AMIN 7 Understanding the Epic in a Postmodern Context: Mahabharata and ‘Dharma’, Narrated and Questioned from the Fringes 81 RAJA BASU 8 ‘Khandava’, the Massacre of Non-Human Ontology: A Re-Reading of the Mahabharata 92 SAIKAT CHAKRABORTY 9 Serving Raison d’etre: Righteousness and Resistance in The Temptation of Karna 100 TUHIN MAJUMDAR 10 Neither Man Nor Woman Or Both: Exploring the Fluidity of Gender in the Mahabharata 108 SHAISTA IRSHAD PART IV Mṛcchakatika 117 11 Mṛcchakatika as a Mirror of Vedic State and Mass Insurgence 119 SUBHAJEET SINGHA 12 Mrichchakatika: The Triumph of Love and a ‘New World Order’ 126 ANKUR KONAR PART V The Cilappatikaram: A Tale of an Anklet 135 13 Sacral and Profane: Kingship, Society, and Tamil Nationalism in Ilanko Atikal’s the Cilappatikaram: A Tale of an Anklet 137 ANIMESH BAG PART VI Panchatantra 149 14 The Animal Question in the Panchatantra 151 SEBONTI ROY CHOWDHURY PART VII Gitagovindam 161 15 Aesthetics of Emotion: Sringara Rasa in Jayadeva’s Gitagovindam 163 SHRUTI DAS Index 175