Text and Tradition in South India

Description

Velcheru Narayana Rao's contribution to understanding Indian cultural history, literary production, and intellectual life--specifically from the vantage of the Andhra region--has few parallels. He is one of the very rare scholars to be able to reflect magisterially on the precolonial and colonial periods. He moves easily between Sanskrit and the vernacular traditions, and between the worlds of orality and script. This is because of his mastery of the "classical" Telugu tradition. As Sanjay Subrahmanyam puts it in his Introduction, "To command nearly a thousand years of a literary tradition is no small feat, but more important still is VNR's ability constantly to offer fresh readings and provocative frameworks for interpretation." The essays and reflections in Text and Tradition in South India bring together the diverse and foundational contributions made by Narayana Rao to the rewriting of India's cultural and literary history. The book is for anyone interested in the history of Indian ideas, the social and cultural history of South India, and the massive intellectual traditions of the subcontinent. Contents Sources of Publication Preface and Acknowledgments Sanjay Subrahmanyam: VNR—Some Introductory Remarks I II III Key Bibliographic Elements Notes 1 Multiple Literary Cultures in Telugu: Court, Temple, and Public Linguistic and Geographical Boundaries of Telugu Literary Cultures The First Poet and the Production of a Brahminical/Puranic Literary Culture The Literary Culture of Śaivabhakti Poetry for Pleasure: Kāvya Culture Court Poetry Poetry in the Temple Literature for the God-king in His Court-temple Literature in Public Space: The Cāṭu World The Question of Literary Language The Politics of Translation The Culture of Writing and the Propagation of Books Notes References 2 Notes on Political Thought in Medieval and Early Modern South India Introduction Some Ur-Texts Nīti and its Opponents during the Medieval Period An Imperial Interlude: Kṛṣṇadevarāya Early Modern Variations Nīti and Karaṇam Culture Conclusion Notes 3 Purāṇa as Brahminic Ideology The Five Distinguishing Marks Purāṇizing the Folk Tradition Purāṇa: What it is and What it is Not The Author/Speaker of the Purāṇas Purānạ and Orality What the Purāṇas Say What the Purāṇas do not Say The Change in the Nature of the Purāṇas Notes 4 Coconut and Honey: Sanskrit and Telugu in Medieval Andhra The Śaiva Protest Mārga and Deśi Separation of Styles The Late-Medieval Crystallization Notes References 5 Multiple Lives of a Text: The Sumati Śatakamu in Colonial Andhra From Nīti to Morals A Telugu Book on Nīti A Guide to Success Probable Readership of the SS Śataka Genre C.P. Brown and the SS Features of Oral Transmission The Metrics of Kandamu Features of the PSS Features of Literary Style Popularity of the SS Critical Editions of the SS and Authorship of the SS Bhīmana vs. Baddĕna Conclusion Notes References 6 When Does Sīta Cease to be Sīta: Notes Toward a Cultural Grammar of Indian Narratives Sītā in Sundarakāṇḍa Problematics of Uttarakāṇḍa Sītā in Selected Non-Vālmīki Versions Sītā in the Twentieth Century An Ecology of Indian Narratives Notes References 7 A Rāmāyaṇa of Their Own: Women’s Oral Tradition in Telugu Some Background The Songs The Structure of the Songs Sītāyana Non-Brahmin Songs Conclusion Notes 8 The Politics of Telugu Ramayanas: Colonialism, Print Culture, and Literary Movements The Rāmāyaṇa Tradition and Vālmīki Bhakti-ization and Iconization of Rāma’s Story Change in the Status of Non-Brahmins Modernity and its Respondents Conclusion Notes 9 Epics and Ideologies: Six Telugu Folk Epics The Epic Stories Epic Communities Sex-Role Reversals Secondary Epic Formations Deified Virgin and Chaste Wife Conclusion Notes References 10 Texture and Authority: Telugu Riddles and Enigmas Pŏḍupukatha Other Riddle Forms Literary Riddles Riddles with Stories The Enigma of the Future: A Telugu Nostradamus Vyāsa Deceives His Teacher Viśvakarma Vīra Brahmam Announces that he will Come as the Savior Conclusion Notes References 11 Buddhism in Modern Andhra: Literary Representations from Telugu Colonial Backdrop: Buddhacaritramu by the Twin Poets English, the New Language of Power The Prabandha Genre in Telugu Brahmin Acceptance of Buddhist Non-violence Gandhian Buddhism: Saundaranandamu by Katuri and Pingali Modernist Critique of Buddhism: Buccibabu Brahminic Reaction: A Jātaka Tale by Viswanatha Satyanarayana Concluding Remarks Notes References 12 The Indigenous Modernity of Gurajada Apparao and Fakir Mohan Senapati Notes References 13 Purāṇa Indigenous Concepts of the Purāṇa What the Purāṇas Say about Themselves The Purāṇa as a Distinct Genre: Five Distinguishing Marks of a Purāṇa Purāṇic Time and Space The Number of Purāṇas and Their Classification Dialogical Structure of the Purāṇas: The Purāṇa Ethos Sūta: The Teller of Stories Purāṇas in the Popular Understanding of the Hindus Three Kinds of Purāṇas The Purāṇas and the Bhakti Tradition The Bhāgavata Purāṇa The Skanda Purāṇa The Other Purāṇas: Agni and Bhaviṣya Counter-Purāṇas Purāṇas from Below Colonial Scholarship of the Purāṇas Modern Scholarship on the Purāṇas Dating the Purāṇas The Absent Paurāṇika Notes References 14 A Day in the Life of a Housewife: “Sita Locked Out” A Day in the Life of a Housewife: A Second Look at “Sīta Locked Out” Notes 15 Urmila Sleeps: A Rāmāyaṇa Song that Women in Andhra Sing Notes Index