Literary Cultures in History Reconstructions from South Asia

A grand synthesis of unprecedented scope, Literary Cultures in History is the first comprehensive history of the rich literary traditions of South Asia. Together these traditions are unmatched in their combination of antiquity, continuity, and multicultural complexity, and are a unique resource for understanding the development of language and imagination over time. In this unparalleled volume, an international team of renowned scholars considers fifteen South Asian literary traditions--including Hindi, Indian-English, Persian, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Urdu--in their full historical and cultural variety. The volume is united by a twofold theoretical aim: to understand South Asia by looking at it through the lens of its literary cultures and to rethink the practice of literary history by incorporating non-Western categories and processes. The questions these seventeen essays ask are accordingly broad, ranging from the character of cosmopolitan and vernacular traditions to the impact of colonialism and independence, indigenous literary and aesthetic theory, and modes of performance. A sophisticated assimilation of perspectives from experts in anthropology, political science, history, literary studies, and religion, the book makes a landmark contribution to historical cultural studies and to literary theory in addition to the new perspectives it offers on what literature has meant in South Asia. (Available in South Asia from Oxford University Press--India).Cover -- CONTENTS -- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS -- LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS -- PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION -- Introduction -- PART 1. GLOBALIZING LITERARY CULTURES -- 1. Sanskrit Literary Culture from the Inside Out -- 2. The Culture and Politics of Persian in Precolonial Hindustan -- 3. The Historical Formation of Indian-English Literature -- PART 2. LITERATURE IN SOUTHERN LOCALES -- 4. Three Moments in the Genealogy of Tamil Literary Culture -- 5. Critical Tensions in the History of Kannada Literary Culture -- 6. Multiple Literary Cultures in Telugu: Court, Temple, and Public -- 7. Genre and Society: The Literary Culture of Premodern Kerala -- PART 3. THE CENTRALITY OF BORDERLANDS -- 8. The Two Histories of Literary Culture in Bengal -- 9. From Hemacandra to Hind Svar&amp -- #257 -- j: Region and Power in Gujarati Literary Culture -- 10. At the Crossroads of Indic and Iranian Civilizations: Sindhi Literary Culture -- PART 4. BUDDHIST CULTURES AND SOUTH ASIAN LITERATURES -- 11. What Is Literature in Pali? -- 12. Works and Persons in Sinhala Literary Culture -- 13. The Indian Literary Identity in Tibet -- PART 5. THE TWINNED HISTORIES OF URDU AND HINDI -- 14. A Long History of Urdu Literary Culture, Part 1: Naming and Placing a Literary Culture -- 15. A Long History of Urdu Literary Culture, Part 2: Histories, Performances, and Masters -- 16. The Progress of Hindi, Part 1: The Development of a Transregional Idiom -- 17. The Progress of Hindi, Part 2: Hindi and the Nation -- INDEX -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- ZA grand synthesis of unprecedented scope, Literary Cultures in History is the first comprehensive history of the rich literary traditions of South Asia. Together these traditions are unmatched in their combination of antiquity, continuity, and multicultural complexity, and are a unique resource for understanding the development of language and imagination over time. In this unparalleled volume, an international team of renowned scholars considers fifteen South Asian literary traditions--including Hindi, Indian-English, Persian, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Urdu--in their full historical and cultural variety. The volume is united by a twofold theoretical aim: to understand South Asia by looking at it through the lens of its literary cultures and to rethink the practice of literary history by incorporating non-Western categories and processes. The questions these seventeen essays ask are accordingly broad, ranging from the character of cosmopolitan and vernacular traditions to the impact of colonialism and independence, indigenous literary and aesthetic theory, and modes of performance. A sophisticated assimilation of perspectives from experts in anthropology, political science, history, literary studies, and religion, the book makes a landmark contribution to historical cultural studies and to literary theory in addition to the new perspectives it offers on what literature has meant in South Asia. (Available in South Asia from Oxford University Press--India).Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries