PHILOLOGY AND HISTORY: READING SOUTH ASIAN TEXTS

1 Course Unit

This course provides students with an overview of how South Asian texts have been treated historically and, specifically, the methods employed to read, interpret, and historicize these texts, the mechanics of their production and reception, literary and philological criticism, performance, and overarching theoretical perspectives from classical South Asia and contemporary critical theory. Topics and themes covered include: an overview of the languages of South Asia, trends and debates in South Asian literary history, issues of translatio studii and vernacularization, the politics and poetics of language and hermeneutics, the process of making a critical edition, translation and theories of translation, and the use of literary materials by historians in research contexts. 1 Course Unit