Classical Sanskrit Tragedy : The Concept of Suffering and Pathos in Medieval India

"It is often assumed that classical Sanskrit poetry and drama lack a concern with the tragic. However, as Bihani Sarkar makes clear in this book, this is far from the case. In the first study of tragedy in classical Sanskrit literature, Sarkar draws on a wide range of Sanskrit dramas, poems and treatises? much of them translated for the first time into English? to provide a complete history of the tragic in Indian literature from the second to the tenth centuries. More than a literary study, Sarkar uses close textual analysis to respond to broader questions such as: what were the early Indians' attitudes towards the tragic? How and why did these change over time? How do these intersect with and reflect Indian religious traditions? Classical Sanskrit Tragedy will appeal to scholars of South Asian literature and those interested in South Asian history and the medieval history of ideas and emotions alike."-- Provided by publisher It is often assumed that classical Sanskrit poetry and drama lack a concern with the tragic. However, as Bihani Sarkar makes clear in this book, this is far from the case. In the first study of tragedy in classical Sanskrit literature, Sarkar draws on a wide range of Sanskrit dramas, poems and treatises – much of them translated for the first time into English – to provide a complete history of the tragic in Indian literature from the second to the fourth centuries. Looking at Kalidasa, the most celebrated writer of Sanskrit poetry and drama (kavya), this book argues that constructions of absence and grief are central to Kalidasa's compositions and that these 'tragic middles' are much more sophisticated than previously understood. For Kalidasa, tragic middles are modes of thinking, in which he confronts theological and philosophical issues. Through a close literary analysis of the tragic middle in five of his works, the Abhijñanasakuntala, the Raghuva?sa, the Kumarasambhava, the Vikramorvasiya and the Meghaduta, Sarkar demonstrates the importance of tragedy for classical Indian poetry and drama in the early centuries of the common era. These depictions from the Indian literary sphere, by their particular function and interest in the phenomenology of grief, challenge and reshape in a wholly new way our received understanding of tragedy. 9780755617869_web.pdf Cover Half Title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgements Preamble: A Note on the Indian Medieval Introduction, Part I: The tragic middle Introduction, Part II: Doubt, obstacle, deliberation, death, disaster: the trial in Indian aesthetics 1 Kalidasa and his inheritance of grief 2 The map of melancholy: Lamentation and the philosophical pause 3 On losing and finding love: Conflict, obstacle and drama 4 The altered heart: Anguish, entreaty and lyric Conclusion Notes Preamble: A Note on the Indian Medieval Introduction, Part I: The tragic middle Introduction, Part II: Doubt, obstacle, deliberation, death, disaster: The trial in Indian aesthetics 1 Kālidāsa and his inheritance of grief 2 The map of melancholy: Lamentation and the philosophical pause 3 On losing and finding love: Conflict, obstacle and drama 4 The altered heart: Anguish, entreaty and lyric Conclusion Bibliography Index Acknowledgements -- Preamble: A note on the Indian medieval -- Introduction -- Part I. The Tragic Middle Introduction -- Part II. Doubt, Obstacle, Deliberation, Death, Disaster: the Trial in Indian Aesthetics -- Chapter 1. Kalidasa and his inheritance of grief -- Chapter 2. The Map of Melancholy: Lamentation and the Philosophical Pause -- Chapter 3. On losing and finding love: Conflict, Obstacle and drama -- Chapter 4. The Altered Heart: Anguish, Entreaty and Lyric -- Conclusion -- Bibliography.