SOUTH ASIAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE: SACRED AND SECULAR

Credit Hours: 3 · Undergraduate Upper-Level

This course presents a selection of literary works that profoundly influenced pre-modern South Asia. The syllabus focuses on the literary traditions of the West (Persia), the South (Indian Subcontinent), and the Middle East, with an emphasis on aesthetics, law, and morality, as well as their connections to both oral and written cultures. We will read English translations of Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic sources. The material covered in this course is selective, but the aim is to include representative works from a variety of literary genres and forms that address issues of ethics, morality, power, and the individual self. In the course, we will pay attention to the ways in which texts provide access to the historical iterations of recurring ideas and themes. Accordingly, attention to language and close reading will be an important aspect of both class discussions and writing assignments. Prominent themes guiding our exploration of the readings will be 1) narrative structures, 2) art and pedagogy, and 3) philosophy of yoga.