Language of the Snakes Prakrit, Sanskrit, and the Language Order of Premodern India / Andrew Ollett.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ollett, Andrew, 1986- author.

Series:

South Asia across the disciplines.

South Asia across the disciplines

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Language and culture--India.

Language and culture.

Sanskrit literature--History and criticism.

Sanskrit literature.

Prakrit languages.

Prakrit literature--History and criticism.

Prakrit literature.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 308 pages) : illustrations, charts, map; PDF, digital file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

University of California Press 2017

Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2017].

Language Note:

English

System Details:

text file

Summary:

"Language of the Snakes traces the history of the Prakrit language as a literary phenomenon, starting from its cultivation in courts of the Deccan in the first few centuries of the common era. Although little studied today, Prakrit was an important vector of the "kavya movement," and once joined Sanskrit at the apex of classical Indian literary culture. The opposition--as well as underlying identity--between Prakrit and Sanskrit was at the center of an enduring "language order" in India, a set of ways of thinking about, naming, classifying, representing, and ultimately using languages. As a language of classical literature that nevertheless retained its associations with more demotic language practices, Prakrit both embodies major cultural tensions--between high and low, transregional and regional, cosmopolitan and vernacular--and provides a unique perspective onto the history of literature and culture in South Asia."--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Prakrit in the language order of India

Inventing Prakrit: the languages of power

Inventing Prakrit: the languages of literature

The forms of Prakrit literature

Figuring Prakrit

Knowing Prakrit

Forgetting Prakrit.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 259-295) and index.

This eBook is made available Open Access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 https://www.degruyter.com/dg/page/open-access-policy

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version:

ISBN:

9780520968813

0520968816

OCLC:

1085392899