Modern Indian Literature as Cosmopolis: Conversations with Hanuman (Routledge Studies in Comparative Literature)

By: Didier Coste

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Synopsis: This book redefines modern Indian literature from a cosmopolitan comparative perspective inclusive of literature in English from India and the diaspora, in native languages, and works by non-Indians. It shows how, since the mid-19th century, Indian literary modernity pursued the conjunction of the sensuous and ethical/spiritual that characterized its three traditions (Sanskritik, Persian, and folk culture) while the encounter, both receptive and oppositional, with “the West” vastly expanded the Indian literary sphere. Aesthetics and ethics are not antithetical in the Indian cultural space, but the quest for an exclusive Indian identity versus universalist approaches offsets concerns for social justice as well as enjoyable embodied communication. The literary constellation, in many languages, now formed in and around India can be better apprehended as a virtual Cosmopolis, a commonwealth of elaborate emotions. The versatile figure of Hanuman metaphorically flies across this Ocean of Stories to make us discover new worlds of experience.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:: 9781040130421
Related ISBNs:: 9781040130414, 9781003471479, 9781032749105
Publisher:: Taylor & Francis
Date of Addition:: 10/09/24
Copyrighted By:: Didier Coste
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: History, Nonfiction, Literature and Fiction, Language Arts, Politics and Government
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.