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Indian Mythological Fantasy
DozentIn: Prof. Dr. phil. Thomas Kullmann
Veranstaltungstyp: Seminar
Ort: 22/104
Zeiten: Mi. 18:00 - 19:30 (wöchentlich)
Beschreibung: In the last two decades, an exciting new tradition of novels in English has emerged in India: Indian authors provide retellings of ancient Indian mythology, connecting old stories to present-day concerns and making use of techniques of present-day fantasy writing. In this seminar we are going to read four novels which take up aspects of the Ramayana epic – which deals with Prince Rama’s marriage to Princess Sita, Rama’s banishment to the woods (with Sita following him), Sita’s abduction by an evil demon and her recovery by Rama and the god Hanuman’s army of monkeys:
Ashok Banker, Demons of Chitrakut (2004),
Amish (Tripathi), Sita: Warrior of Mithila (2017),
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Forest of Enchantments (2019), and
Shatrujeet Nath, Warlord of Ayodhya: Rebellion (2022)
Topics discussed in these novels include the roles of women, the responsibility of politicians, social justice, love and humanity etc. As there is practically no secondary literature on these books, we will be pioneers on unexplored terrain.
Copies of Amish, Sita, will be made available at Buchhandlung zur Heide (Dielingerstr. 42 B). Copies of the other three books can be obtained by means of the internet. However, I will also leave master copies at CopyShop Dialog, Süsterstr. 29, where you can copy the texts.
Please register for the course in person (preferably after making an appointment by e-mail), StudIP registration is not sufficient.
And please make sure you have read the books before the start of the semester (There will be a short test on plots and characters).
