Vyāsa Redux: Narrative in Epic Mahābhārata (Anthem Studies in South Asian Literature, Aesthetics and Culture) - Softcover

McGrath, Kevin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1785275747 ISBN 13: 9781785275746

Publisher: Anthem Press, 2020

Synopsis

Vyāsa is the primary creative poet of the Sanskrit epic Mahābhārata and 'Vyāsa Redux' examines the many paradoxical dimensions of his narrative virtuosity in the poem where the poet is both the creator of the work and a character within it. The book also studies elements in the poem which have been received by the late Bronze Age poets who composed the figure of Vyāsa, elements that reflect kinship, polity and modes of mnemonic inspiration. Three paired concepts function within the poem’s narrative process: first, the central approach of the book is founded upon the distinction between plot and story, that is, the causal relation of events as opposed to the temporal relation of events. Second, much of the argument then engages with how this distinction relates to the difference between the preliterate and literate phases of our present text. Third, the nature of how inspiration functions and how edition operates becomes another vital component in our analytic process explaining how Vyāsa becomes a dramatic, causal and at times prophetic character in the poem’s narration as well as its originator.

About this title

About the Author

Kevin McGrath is an associate of the Department of South Asian Studies at Harvard University, USA.

Edition details

• Publisher: Anthem Press
• Publication date: 2020
• ISBN 10: 1785275747
• ISBN 13: 9781785275746
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 132