Description
This module will prepare students to engage actively and critically with Western views of the epic and the latest scholarship on the basis of the philosophical interpretation developed in the previous modules. We will evaluate the views of Western scholars—in particular, the prejudice that the Mahābhārata is a badly composed text, a “literary nonsense” (Winternitz) or a “monstrous chaos” (Oldenberg), and that it is an amalgamation of an older heroic oral bardic epic and Brahmanic philosophical, ritualistic, and didactic elements (the so-called “pseudo-epic” according to Hopkins). Finally, this module will introduce students to concepts in narratology and the question of authorship: Who is the enigmatic author called “Vyāsa”?
Areas of Study: Text and Traditions
Required/ Elective: Required
Prerequisites: Must have completed Orientation to Hindu Studies or Completed Orientation to Hindu Studies
Instructor: Dr. Vishwa Adluri
Day:- Every Saturday
Start Date:- 9 January 2021
End Date:- 20 March 2021
Time:- 10:00 am EST – 01:00 pm EST.
Quarter: Summer 2021
