HISTORY OF INDIAN LITERATURE

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HISTORY OF INDIAN LITERATURE

• GOING DOWN THE LINE

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Indian Literature

• One of the worlds oldest and richest
• Oral traditions storytellers present
  traditional Indian text
• Literature is influenced by
• A religious doctrine karma the chain of good
  and bad action and their inevitable consequences,
  which result to the repeated birth and death of
  the soul.
• Mythology of the dominant Hindu deities

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Sanskrit Literature
Classical Literature
Medieval Literature The Rise Of The Regional Languages
Colonial Period To Independence
Independence Onwards
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SANSKRIT LITERATURE

• Literature is written in Sanskrit language
• Text were produced about 16th century BC by
  people known as Aryans (were cattle herders who
  were originally nomadic) who established kingdoms
  in north India

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I. Religious Text
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• Composed in Old Sanskrit by Aryan poets
• Constitute the fundamental scripture of the Hindu
  religion and used as sacramental rites of
  Hinduism
• Compilation of two major literary forms
• Hymns of praise to nature deities
• Ritual chants to accompany Aryan religious
  rituals

• VEDAS
• Book of Knowledge

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The Four VEDAS

• Rig-Veda anthology of 1080 hymns to various
  gods
• ex. Creation Hymn
• Sama-Veda Book of Chants consists of
  liturgies.
• Yajur-Veda Prayer Book which consists of
  liturgies and repetition of Rig-Veda but
  contains many original prose formulas
• Atharva-Veda Book of Spells which contains
  some hymns, spells, incantations, and notions
  about demonology and witchcraft.

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• BRAHMANAS

• prose text that discuss the solemn sacrificial
  rituals as well as the commitment on their
  meaning, composed by Hindu priest

ARANYAKAS

• wilderness texts or forest treaties, composed
  by people who meditated in the woods
• Discussion and interpretation of the dangerous
  rituals

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• UPANISHADS

• Composed by a group of sages who questioned the
  usefulness of ritual religion
• Consists of 108 dialogues between teachers and
  their students about the individual souls unity
• Indias oldest philosophical treaties and form
  the foundation of major schools of Hindu
  philosophy

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• TIPITAKA
• The Three Baskets

• Major religious text of Buddhism
• Written in the Pali language
• Includes the teachings of Buddha

JATAKAS Stories of the Births of
the Buddha

• Tells 547 stories of Buddhas former births

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2. Heroic Text
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• Mahabharata

• The Great Epic of the Bharata Dynasty)
• Written by the poet Vyasal
• A tale of dispute between two branches of the
  Bharata clans over the right to rule the kingdom.

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Ramayana

• The Way of Rama
• Written by the poet Valkimi
• Tells the story of the hero Rama, prince of
  Ayodhya and incarnation of the god Vishnu

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CLASSICAL LITERATURE

• Started with the flowering of the Gupta dynasty
• Great achievements in philosophy, sciences and
  arts
• Reflected values of Hinduism

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• Literature was nurtured by the caste system
• Brahman scholars and priest
• Kshatriya the warriors
• Vaisya merchants
• Sudra laborers
• Kavya was the major form of classical literature
  in Sanskrit.

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Kalidasa Indias preeminent classical poet
Raghuvamsa (Dynasty of Raghu) - Epic poem
Meghaduta (The Cloud Messenger) - Lyric poem
about separated lovers
SHAKUNTALA (Shakuntala and the Ring of
Recollection) - poetic drama, tells the story of
a love affair between a king and a woodland
maiden Shakuntala - a universal drama of the
passion, separation, suffering and reunion of
lovers.
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Mrichchhakatika (The Little Clay Cart) by
Shudraka
Sanskrit Drama A rich pageant of mime, dance,
music, and lyrical texts set in the court of
kings and aristocrats

• Malati-Madhava(Malati and Madhava) a romance by
  Bhavabhuti

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Panchatantra (The Five Strategies) b y
Vishnusharman

• A collection of stories in prose and verse, which
  feature animals as the characters, teach lessons
  about human conduct
• Use the technique of telling stories within the
  framework of the main story

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Puranas

• A genre of mythological narratives
• Five topics of Puranas
• The creation of the universe
• The destruction and re-creation of the universe
• The genealogy of the gods and holy sages
• The reign of the Manus )legendary Hindu figures)
• The histories of the kings who trace their
  ancestry the sun and the moon

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MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

• Different regions began to develop its own
  distinctive culture
• Islamic dynasties conquered many territories
• Indian languages were influenced by Islamic
  religion, Persian and Arabic languages
• Unique version of local myths, legends, romances
  and epics emerged

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Bhakti Devotional Literature

• Authors who belong to Hindu movement, who wrote
  lyric poetry
• Bhakti was an aspect of religion that involved
  passionate, emotional devotion to a particular
  god.
• They addressed devotional poems to the major
  Hindu gods and goddesses Shiva, Vishnu, Bhrama,
  Krishna, Rama, Lakhsmi, Ganesha,
• Some major Bhatik poets were women and men of the
  lower caste

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COLONIAL PERIOD TO INDEPENDENCE

• British became a colonial power
• The colonial government introduced English
  education for upper-class Indians so that they
  can serve the colony
• Introduction of the printing press, which made
  possible the establishment of newspapers and
  journals
• Bengal Renaissance

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• Rabindranath Tagore
• An innovative poet of the Bengali language
• Drew on traditional forms of poetry and
  performance
• The first non-European winner of the Nobel Prize
  award for literature

• GITANJALI
• (Song Offerings, 1910)
• His best known work, which is a collection of
  poems

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INDEPENDENCE ONWARDS

• Indian independence from Britain in 1947 marked
  the start of modern Indian literature

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What role do religion and culture play in the
lives and literature of the people?
Describe Indias literature. How is it
similar/different to Chinese and Japanese
literature?