In this Book
- The Modernity of Sanskrit
- Book
- 2008
- Published by: University of Minnesota Press
summary
Sanskrit texts have usually been discussed either within the frames of anthropology and religious studies or with a veneration that has substituted for analysis. Going beyond such approaches, Simona Sawhney argues that only a literary approach that resists the closure of interpretation can reveal the fragility, ambivalence, and tension that mark the canonical texts. Today we witness, Sawhney contends, the near-total appropriation of Sanskrit literature by Hindu nationalism. The Modernity of Sanskrit challenges this appropriation by exploring the complex work of Rabindranath Tagore, M. K. Gandhi, and Mohan Rakesh. Sawhney proposes that Indian nationalist writings about classic Sanskrit became a charged site for postcolonial reflections on politics and art in India. Sawhney claims that although new readings of Sanskrit literature played a decisive role in the intellectual conception of modernity in India, the space for such readings has steadily shrunk in contemporary times, leading to a stark diminishment of both the political and the literary lives of the texts.
Table of Contents
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- Preface and Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-xii
- Introduction
- pp. 1-19
- 5. Poetry beyond Art
- pp. 154-182
- Epilogue: Poetry and Justice
- pp. 183-192
- About the Author
- p. 215
Additional Information
ISBN
9780816666362
Related ISBN(s)
9780816649969
MARC Record
OCLC
647886262
Pages
256
Launched on MUSE
2015-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No