The figure of Sakuntala appears in many forms throughout South Asian literature, most famously in the
Mahabharata and in Kalidisa’s fourth-century Sanskrit play,
Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection. In these two texts, Sakuntala undergoes a critical transformation, relinquishing her assertiveness and autonomy to become the quintessentially submissive woman, revealing much about the performance of Hindu femininity that would come to dominate South Asian culture. Through a careful analysis of sections from
Sakuntala and their various iterations in different contexts, Romila Thapar explores the interactions between literature and history, culture and gender, that frame the development of this canonical figure, as well as a distinct conception of female identity.
Table des matières
Preface
1. Preliminaries
2. The Narrative from the Mahabharata
3. The Abhijñana-sakuntalam of Kalidasa
Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection—the play by Kalidasa
4. Popular and high culture as historical parallels
5. Adaptations: another popular tradition and its role in another court
6. Translations: Orientalism, German romanticism and the image of Sakuntala
7. Translation: colonial views
8. Sakuntala from the perspective of middle-class nationalism
9. Conclusion
Endnotes
A propos de l’auteur
Romila Thapar specializes in early Indian history and is professor emerita in history at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. In 1983 she was elected general president of the Indian History Congress and in 1999 a corresponding fellow of the British Academy. Her best known works are
Ashoka and the Decline of the Mauryas,
From Language to State,
Interpreting Early India, and
Time as a Metaphor of History: Early India.
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