Why comment? Early modern commentarial literature

Undergraduate / Graduate

What is the purpose of a commentary? What do commentaries in different languages, and on different types of texts, 'do'? This course will take the example of commentarial literature from early modern South Asia-- primarily but not exclusively northern India--to explore the different contexts, projects, and intellectual milieus in which commentaries were composed, circulated, and performed. Primary readings will be in English, Sanskrit, and Hindi, and include commentaries (and their accompanying root texts;) we will also read a selection of modern scholarly writings on commentarial literature to survey different approaches to working with commentarial works.