The Multivalence of an Epic: Retelling the Ramayana in South India and Southeast Asia
₹3,000.00
The Ramayana traditions of South India and Southeast Asia are examined at multiple levels in this volume. The research presented here offers in-depth investigations of chosen moments in the development of the epic tradition together with broader trends that help in understanding the epic?s multivalence. The journey and localization of the R?m?ya?a is explored in its manifold expressions ? from classical to folk, from temples and palaces to theatres and by-lanes in cities and villages, and from ancient to modern times. Regional R?m?ya?as from different parts of South India and Southeast Asia are placed in deliberate juxtaposition to enable a historically informed discussion of their connected pasts across land and seas. The three parts of this volume, organized as visual, literary, and performance cultures, discuss the sculpted, painted, inscribed, written, recited, and performed Ramayanas. A related emphasis is on the way boundaries of medium and genre have been crossed in the visual, literary, and performed representations of the R?m?ya?a.These are rewarding directions of research that have thus far received little attention. Bringing together 19 well-known scholars in Ramayana studies from Cambodia, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, UK, and USA, this thought-provoking and elegantly illustrated volume engages with the inherent plurality, diversity, and adaptability of the R?m?ya?a in changing socio-political, religious, and cultural contexts and with shifting norms, tastes, traditions, and ideologies.
Categories: | Academic and Reference, History Series |
---|
Editor | |
---|---|
Format |
Related products
-
Comets – Nomads of the Solar System
This book introduces the general reader to the world of comets – those celestial visitors from the outer Solar System that occasionally visit the Earth’s neighbourhood and put up spectacular shows in the night sky. The world had geared up for just such a show at the end of 2013, when Comet ISON was expected to light up the night sky. Using the occasion to bring the world of comets to those interested, this book is a delightful read about the quirky world of these unpredictable visitors. Apart from lucidly and accurately updating the reader about what comets are, where they come from, why is it that they assume the fantastic shapes they do etc. “Comets” also regales the reader with myths about comets in various cultural contexts, snippets about famous comets in the history of mankind, anecdotes on comet discoveries and discoverers, the bewildering procedures followed while naming comets and much more. The book takes a hard look at the hype surrounding the fiery expectations about Comet ISON an cautions the reader that, while there was a good chance of the comet blazing forth in the skies of December 2013, there was a realistic chance that the comet would not survive its close encounter with the Sun. Sadly, the pessimistic predictions came true and the comet disintegrated as it went around the Sun. As we wait for chance to throw us a Great Comet to gaze at in the future, “Comets: Nomads of the Solar System” is an excellent guide to prepare for the event!
Interested customers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
Also available on
-
Writing the self in Illness: Reading the Experiential through the Medical Memoir
Writing the Self in Illness: Reading the Experiential Through the Medical Memoir is MUP?s refreshing venture into the developing fields of Medical and Health Humanities with an aim to consider the necessity of the narrative knowledge as complementary to the contemporary notions of well-being, illness, and healthcare.
Is individual happiness contingent on health and well-being? How does one find happiness in the throes of illness? In the present-day scenario, wherein medical practice is largely dominated by evidence-based understanding, diagnostic language, and problem-solving methods, the discipline of Medical Humanities emerges with a reciprocal dialogue between Humanities, Social Sciences, Health, and Medicine. The study of varied experiential narratives ? literary works and unmediated accounts of patients and healthcare professionals, is foregrounded in Medical Humanities to amplify knowledge and understanding about the complexity of encounters with illness and their transformational quality in a nuanced manner. Both thought-provoking and informative, this publication brings about the anecdotal form of personal narratives in the light of medical discourses along with the specific cultural context of the narrative.
The present publication seeks to be an important reading for students and academics in the field of medical humanities, health professionals or medical practitioners, as well as scholars aspiring to venture into this flourishing field. -
Vaidehi Kathana
Vaidehi Kathana is the first full-length literary critical study of the fictional, non fictional and poetic narratives of Vaidehi, who is considered to be one of the most celebrated contemporary Indian writers in Kannada. This work reviews, introduces, discusses and interprets all the writings of Vaidehi, which include short stories, poems, essays and a novel. The book examines how this great Indian writer has been reacting and responding to her time and space for the last four decades. The book shows how Vaidehi?s poetics has so subtly blended with her politics thereby creating some of the outstanding masterpieces in poetry and fiction of our times. The book discusses the special features of Vaidehi?s feminist perspectives as well as the uniqueness of her narrative skills. Arguing that Vaidehi?s spiritual triumph is demonstrated in her technical triumph, the book draws the attention of the non-Kannada readers to the entire body of Vaidehi?s writings. Lucidly translated into English by the noted translator O L Nagabhushana Swamy, T P Ashoka?s Vaidehi Kathana provides a meaningful opportunity for the non-Kannada readers to familiarize themselves with one of the greatest contemporary writers of India. T P Ashoka?s Vaidehi Kathana is a significant contribution to modern Indian literary criticism. The book provides an interesting reading not only to the students of literature, researchers and teachers but also appeals to the general readers.
-
COVID-19: A Multidimensional Response
COVID-19 disease is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, first detected in November-December 2019 in Wuhan, China. Thus far, more than 7 million people have been infected with the novel coronavirus across the globe, and the count is increasing with every passing day. Even though it causes severe respiratory problems, the majority of patients show mild symptoms, and pathogenesis is under investigation. Although several drugs are being developed and many of them are undergoing clinical trials, currently there are no approved drugs/vaccines to cure this disease. Personal hygiene and social distancing are important means to prevent the spread of this disease. With the advancements in scientific research, humankind is hoping to find a potent drug/vaccine for this disease at the earliest. The health care professionals and scientific community are at their maximum in combating this viral infection. In this book, an attempt is made to compile various aspects of COVID-19 in a single platform, which include aetiology, epidemiology, its clinical manifestations, diagnosis, pathological, clinical and therapeutic facets, comorbidities, risk factors, and the essential precautionary measures. This book comprises around 29 chapters contributed by various experts from research and clinical backgrounds.
-
Kannada Theatre History 1850-1950: A Sourcebook
This source book on Kannada theatre history is a valuable contribution to the larger field of Indian Theatre Studies. Avoiding the shortcuts of an overview or a Wikipedia-like assemblage of information, it delves into the lives, histories, struggles, debates and anecdotes surrounding some of the most pioneering figures in the shaping of Kannada theatre between 1850-1950. The selection of primary sources, most of which are being made available in English for the first time, is nothing short of a revelation in the way it illuminates insights into the actual making and thinking of theatre practice. Here we have a model of how the construct of ?Indian Theatre? can be textured, inflected, individuated and problematized at regional, local and intracultural levels. ? Rustom Bharucha .This book is a labour of love by scholars who not only love Kannada theatre, but want to pass on their enjoyment of it. Delving deep into folklore oral history, local history, gossip debate and discourse, the editors bring out the world of Kannada theatres in pluralistic terms. Scholarship and playfulness combine to create a powerful act of storytelling where the book itself mimics the career of Kannada theatre. As an anthology it becomes an initiation rite, an introduction to all the great figures, not as hagiography but as nuanced analysis. Big questions and little questions combine to create both a sense of combativeness and a wonderful feeling of homecoming. Like tricksters, they break the binaries of tradition and modernity, treating it almost like a bad play which needs new scripts and new performers. A wonderful anthology. A deeply desi book, with all the cosmopolitanism of world theatre. ? Shiv Visvanathan
-
Linear Algebra with Applications
Linear Algebra with Applications portrays selected articles published earlier by Prof Ravindra B Bapat in various reputed journals. This volume published in honour of Prof Bapat, on the occasion of his 60th birthday, consists of his original research articles written in the area of (i) Permanent, Determinant and their applications, (ii) Non-negative Matrices, (iii) Matrix Methods in Statistics and Graph theory, and (iv) Generalized Inverses of a Matrix. Starting with an article A Generalization of a Theorem of Ky Fan on Simplicial Maps, his first article published in 1980, several articles probing the properties of permanent and determinant, characterization of generalized inverses, spectral properties of graphs, and applications of matrix methods in statistics are compiled in this volume. The articles selected in this book will certainly inspire the young linear algebraists and provide several matrix techniques to solve different problems in the area of applied linear algebra.
-
Journalism and Journalism Education in Developing Countries
Free and fair media are at the heart of any democratic set up. A thriving field of journalism and zealous and ethical journalists in that sense become torch bearers of a brighter and promising tomorrow. In this light, the status of journalists, the most important actors in the field becomes increasingly important as a matter of study. They act as gatekeepers of information that is flooding in the era of new media, a wave that is not so new anymore. Their roles remain intact and even becomes prominent in the chaos of many-to-many communication.
Not concentrating on specific countries, selected contributions in the book reflect on the developments of media and journalism education across different countries. Introducing the book with an overview about the state-of-the-art of journalism education and the research on a meta level, the book moves on to talk about media studies in the Asian countries and in Arab world, the African States and Brazil.
The recent economic and social developments present both opportunities and risks for journalism. Freedom of expression and freedom of press, even in democratic countries, are under pressure. This book provides an international perspective on the different aspects of journalism ? the situation in which journalists work, their working conditions, educational backgrounds, struggles and successes. It is aimed at an international public interested in the field of journalism and freedom of speech. It addresses journalists, trainers and academics. Furthermore, institutions in the field of development cooperation, education or cultural policy and cultural education are the focus of this work. Though the book is focused on journalism and journalism education in developing countries, contributions are from across the globe. This book is an interesting read for all those who care about a vital media landscape and an open democratic society. -
Ayurvedic Inheritance- A Reader’s Companion
In ancient India, learning spanned four quarters of one’s life. Learning was sought from the teacher, from one’s individual effort, from fellow students and in the last quarter, from the school of life itself. This book belongs to the third quarter for students of Ayurveda regardless of their background in medicine, science, or humanities. Apart from topics in the eight branches of Ayurveda, the book also deals with Ayurvedic Biology which seeks to study the concepts and procedures of Ayurveda with the tools of modern biology. M S Valiathan is a National Research Professor of the Government of India. He is a medical graduate from the University of Kerala and completed his postgraduate training in general surgery from the University of Liverpool and other hospitals in the UK. He did his specialisation in cardiac surgery from the Johns Hopkins and Georgetown University Hospitals in the US. He was a cardiac surgeon for over three decades. His shift to Ayurvedic studies resulted in the publication of three volumes on Caraka, Susruta and Vagbhata, and an Introduction to Ayurveda. The Department of Science and Technology set up a Task Force in Ayurvedic Biology under his chairmanship to promote research in the nascent discipline.
Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.
International Edition available on South Asia Edition available on