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Trama e riassunto di Storia della letteratura sanscrita
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About 8 h 40 min to read.A chi è rivolto
For readers who want a firm outline of Indian literature before exploring its texts, and students who need names, dates and categories. For anyone drawn to Vedic hymns, epics, court poetry, drama, fables and philosophy.
Che cos’è questo libro
Imagine a literature so old that its first hymns were kept alive by memory alone for centuries before anyone wrote them down. A History of Sanskrit Literature, by the Oxford scholar Arthur Anthony Macdonell, maps that world in a single volume. It first appeared in 1900 for English readers who had no Sanskrit. The book follows time, from Vedic hymns to epics, court poetry, drama, fables and the sciences. Macdonell praises what he loves, criticises what he finds dull, and makes one bold claim about history.
In questo riassunto
- 1The Rigveda is the oldest voiceFree
- 2Other Vedas turn hymns into ritual
- 3From ritual to the Upanishads
- 4The Mahabharata is a library in a poem
- 5The Ramayana and the Puranas
- 6Court poetry and the art of Kalidasa
- 7Sanskrit drama and its great playwrights
- 8Lyrics, fables and the tales that travelled
- 9Sciences, philosophy and what was missing
Punto chiave 1 di 9
The Rigveda is the oldest voice
Macdonell starts with the Rigveda, the oldest surviving work of Indian literature. It holds just over a thousand hymns in ten books, sung by priestly families to gods such as Indra, Agni and Soma. Careful memory carried the text almost unchanged to the modern age.
He is candid about quality. Many hymns are repetitive requests for cattle, sons and victory. Yet some are fine poetry, like the dawn hymns, and one is the lament of a gambler who cannot leave the dice.
The tenth book grows bolder. It asks where the world came from and whether even the gods know. For Macdonell, this is where Indian thought on creation begins.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Go deeper: the whole of Storia della letteratura sanscrita
About 8 h 40 min to read.Questions about Storia della letteratura sanscrita
What is A History of Sanskrit Literature about?
It is a survey of Sanskrit writing from the Vedic hymns through the epics, court poetry, drama, fables and the learned works on grammar, law, philosophy and science, arranged in order of time.
When was A History of Sanskrit Literature written?
Arthur Macdonell published it in 1900 as part of a series of short histories of the world's literatures. It reflects the scholarship of that time, and some of its dates have since been revised.
Who was Arthur Macdonell?
He was a Scottish-born Oxford professor of Sanskrit, who died in 1930. He also wrote a Vedic grammar, a Sanskrit dictionary and a well-known study of Vedic mythology.
Is A History of Sanskrit Literature hard to read?
The prose is clear and well organised, and no knowledge of the language is required.
What does Macdonell say about Indian history writing?
He argues that ancient India produced almost no true history, since writers favoured myth and legend. He names the twelfth-century Kashmir chronicle, the Rajatarangini by Kalhana, as the main exception.