A Woman's Ramayana: Candrāvatī's Bengali Epic

ISBN-13: 9781138575417 / Angielski / Miękka / 2017 / 162 str.

Bose, Mandakranta

Opis

The Rāmāyana, an Indian epic, is one of the world’s best-loved stories. Made available in English for the first time, this version by a female poet from Bengal is very direct, touching, timely, and accessible. The three-part poem is a highly individual rendition of the ancient epic, and instead of celebrating masculine heroism it laments the suffering of women caught in the play of male ego.

This book presents a translation and commentary on the text, and provides readers with an alternative view of the tale. It expands the understanding both of the history of women’s self-expression in India and the cultural potency of the epic tale. The book is of interest to students and researchers of South Asian studies, Rāmāyaṇa studies and women’s and gender studies.

Recenzje

"This book is a useful contribution to world literature in the sense that it in a way brings to light a work that was mostly orally transmitted, and that too in a vernacular language, so that now the non-Bengali speaker has access to it. It can therefore be of interest to any Ramayana enthusiast, to scholars studying Bengali/Indian literature(s), and/or women’s writings, but also to the general public, because the whole book, including (if not especially) the translation, is accessible to the non-specialist as well."
Suganya Anandakichenin, E´cole francaise d’Extreˆme-Orient
The Journal of Hindu Studies 2015;8:323–324

Spis treści

1. Introduction 2. Candrāvatī Rāmāyana Part 1 3. Candrāvatī Rāmāyana Part 2 4. Candrāvatī Rāmāyana Part 3 5. Appendix 1. Vālmīki Rāmāyana 6. Appendix 2. Krttivāsī Rāmāyana 7. Appendix 3. Narrative Parallels and Omissions 8. Appendix 4. Nayāncāñd Ghos's Candrāvatī 9. Appendix 5. Glossary