Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics

副标题: Draupadi among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits

ISBN: 9780226340517

出版社: University Of Chicago Press

出版年: 1999-5-1

页数: 574

定价: USD 81.00

装帧: Paperback

内容简介

Throughout India and Southeast Asia, ancient classical epics - the "Mahabharata" and the "Ramayana" - continue to exert considerable cultural influence. This work offers an exploration into South Asia's regional epic traditions. Using his own fieldwork as a starting point, Alf Hiltebeitel analyzes how the oral tradition of the south Indian cult of the goddess Draupadi and five regional martial oral epics compare with one another and tie in with the Sanskrit epics. Drawing on literary theory and cultural studies, he reveals the shared subtexts of the Draupadi cult "Mahabharata" and the five oral epics, and shows how the traditional plots are twisted and classical characters reshaped to reflect local history and religion. In doing so, Hiltebeitel sheds light on the intertwining oral traditions of medieval Rajput military culture, Dalits ("former Untouchables"), and Muslims.