ENGLISH

Sakuntala: Texts, Readings, Histories

By Romila Thapar

Book information

Publisher
Columbia University Press
Year
2011
ISBN
0231156553, 9780231156554
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
4 MB (3755625 bytes)
Pages
296\293
Time added
2013-12-21 01:10:35

Description

The figure of Sakuntala appears in many forms throughout South Asian literature, most famously in the Mahabharata and in Kalidisa's fourth-century Sanskrit play, Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection. In these two texts, Sakuntala undergoes a critical transformation, relinquishing her assertiveness and autonomy to become the quintessentially submissive woman, revealing much about the performance of Hindu femininity that would come to dominate South Asian culture. Through a careful analysis of sections from Sakuntala and their various iterations in different contexts, Romila Thapar explores the interactions between literature and history, culture and gender, that frame the development of this canonical figure, as well as a distinct conception of female identity.

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