Language of the Snakes: Prakrit, Sanskrit, and the Language Order of Premodern IndiaAt publication date, a free ebook version of this title will be available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. 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 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 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. |
Contents
Prakrit in the Language Order of India | 1 |
The Languages of Power | 2 |
The Languages of Literature | 3 |
The Forms of Prakrit Literature | 4 |
Figuring Prakrit | 5 |
Knowing Prakrit | 6 |
Forgetting Prakrit | 7 |
Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C | 28 |
1 | 29 |
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Language of the Snakes: Prakrit, Sanskrit, and the Language Order of ... Andrew Ollett Limited preview - 2017 |
Common terms and phrases
Abhinavagupta Alsdorf Andhra anthology Apabhramsha Aśoka authors bhāṣā Bhayani Bhoja Bombay Mumbai Buddhist called century BCE chapter classical commentary composed courtly defined Demise discourse discussion earliest early Edited example guage Hāla Haribhadra Harivṛddha Hemacandra history of Prakrit inscription Jacobi Jain monk Jain Prakrit Jainism jāti Kālidāsa Kāma Kanaganahalli Kannada kāvya king knowledge of Prakrit Kuvalayamālā language order language practices later Light on Prakrit linguistic literary culture literary language Mahārāṣṭra Māhārāṣṭrī Mahāvīra meaning meters metrical Middle Indic Middle Indic languages millennium Mirashi Mirror of Literature Mumbai Nāgārjuna narrative Nitti-Dolci Pali canon Pālitta Pāṇini Pingala Pischel poems poets political Prakrit gāthās Prakrit grammar Prakrit language Prakrit literature Prakrit poetry Prakrit texts Prakrit words prākṛtam Rāma Rāmāyaṇa refers represented Sanskrit and Prakrit Sātavāhana Satavahanas schema scholars Seven Centuries Sheldon Pollock Sircar skrit Śrī Sātakarṇi story Sūtra Tamil Tarangavati Telugu textual Tieken tion tradition translation Treatise on Theater Upadhye Vararuci vernacular