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The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in
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The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India Hardcover - 2006 - 1st Edition

by Sheldon Pollock


From the publisher

In this work of impressive scholarship, Sheldon Pollock explores the remarkable rise and fall of Sanskrit, India's ancient language, as a vehicle of poetry and polity. He traces the two great moments of its transformation: the first around the beginning of the Common Era, when Sanskrit, long a sacred language, was reinvented as a code for literary and political expression, the start of an amazing career that saw Sanskrit literary culture spread from Afghanistan to Java. The second moment occurred around the beginning of the second millennium, when local speech forms challenged and eventually replaced Sanskrit in both the literary and political arenas. Drawing striking parallels, chronologically as well as structurally, with the rise of Latin literature and the Roman empire, and with the new vernacular literatures and nation-states of late-medieval Europe, The Language of the Gods in the World of Men asks whether these very different histories challenge current theories of culture and power and suggest new possibilities for practice.

From the rear cover

The scholarship exhibited here is not only superior; it is in many ways staggering. The author's control of an astonishing range of primary and secondary texts from many languages, eras, and disciplines is awe-inspiring. This is a learned, original, and important work.--Robert Goldman, Sanskrit and India Studies, University of California, Berkeley

Details

  • Title The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India
  • Author Sheldon Pollock
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition number 1st
  • Edition 1
  • Pages 703
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London
  • Date 2006-05-23
  • Features Bibliography, Dust Cover, Index, Maps, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780520245006 / 0520245008
  • Weight 2.38 lbs (1.08 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.91 in (23.62 x 16.26 x 4.85 cm)
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: Asian - General
    • Cultural Region: Indian
    • Interdisciplinary Studies: Pop Culture
  • Library of Congress subjects Sanskrit literature - To 1500 - Political, Sanskrit literature - To 1500 - History and
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2005013461
  • Dewey Decimal Code 891.209

Media reviews

Citations

  • Choice, 11/01/2006, Page 479

About the author

Sheldon Pollock is William B. Ransford Professor of Sanskrit and South Asian Studies at Columbia University, and former George V. Bobrinskoy Distinguished Service Professor at The University of Chicago. His previous publications include Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia (California, 2003), Cosmopolitanism (2002, with Homi Bhabha et al.), and The Ramayana of Valmiki, Volume III: Aranyakanda (1991), and Volume II: Ayodhyakanda (1986).
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The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India

The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India

by Sheldon Pollock

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Hardback. New. Exploring the rise and fall of Sanskrit as a vehicle of poetry and polity, this title traces the two great moments of its transformation. Drawing parallels with the rise of Latin literature and the Roman empire, it asks whether these very different histories challenge theories of culture and power and suggest possibilities for practice.
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The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, And Power in Premodern India
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The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, And Power in Premodern India

by Sheldon Pollock

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Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780520245006 / 0520245008
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The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India
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The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India

by Pollock, Sheldon

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The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India
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The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India

by Pollock, Sheldon

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