| Description |
1 online resource (xix, 274 pages) : illustrations |
| Series |
Classical presences |
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Classical presences.
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| Contents |
1. Madhusudan: a classicizing oeuvre in context -- 2. The Padmābatī nāṭak (1860) and the Judgement of Paris -- 3. The Meghnādbadh kābya (1861), Homer's Iliad, and Vergil's Aeneid -- 4. Further receptions of Vergil's Aeneid -- 5. The Bīrāṅganā kābya (1862) and Ovid's Heroides -- 6. The Hekṭor-badh (1871) and Homer's Iliad -- Conclusion: 'Above all Greek, above all Roman Fame' -- Appendix 1. Appendices Madhusudan's New Testament Examination Script (9 June 1847) -- Appendix 2. Editions of classical texts possibly encountered by Madhusuda -- Appendix 3. Judgement scene in Padmābatī nāṭak -- Appendix 4. Synopsis of the Padmābatī nāṭak -- Appendix 5. Siṃhal-bijay kābya -- Appendix 6. Synopsis of the poems of the Bīrāṅganā kābya -- Appendix 7. Sources of the, The Bīrāṅganā kābya and the Heroides -- Appendix 8. Preface to the Hekṭor-badh -- Appendix 9. Madhusudan's Orientalist Indo-Europeanism |
| Summary |
The works of the Bengali poet and playwright Michael MadhusudanDatta (1824-1873) engage with various texts of the Graeco-Roman canonand do so in a manner which is often subversive and almost always surprising from a Western point of view. The book marshals new archival evidence to show that the poet knew Latin and Greek well.It examines how his Bengali works, which also engage (inter alia) with the English, Italian, and indigenous Sanskrit and Bengali literary traditions, respond to Graeco-Roman texts. The book' discussion of various of Madhusudan's Bengali works demonstrates that the poet's reception of the Western classics went against the grain of contemporary British taste, especially in his interest in Roman as well as Greek literature.Madhusudan's reception of the Graeco-Roman classicsshows intimations of the Indian nationalism which would gain ideological traction soon after his works were published, for example through his development of aVergilian metaphor casting Britain as Aeneas and India as Dido. However, the poet's turn to Greek and Latin texts also represents a reaction both against popular Bengali culture and against the elite culture of the indigenous Hindu pundits.It is suggested that the Bengali poet stands at the head of a tradition of non-white classical readership. Comparisons are made with Derek Walcott and Wole Soyinka, and the book as a whole is located in the theoretical context of postcolonial studies, classics reception, and the emerging field of black classicism. Translations of excerpts from previously untranslated Bengali works are included in appendices |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Dutt, Michael Madhusudan, 1824-1873.
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| SUBJECT |
Dutt, Michael Madhusudan, 1824-1873 fast |
| Subject |
Poets, Bengali -- 19th century -- Biography
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BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- General.
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Poets, Bengali
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| Genre/Form |
Electronic books
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Biographies
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Biographies.
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Biographies.
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9780191626036 |
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0191626031 |
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9781299280755 |
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1299280757 |
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9780191745447 |
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0191745448 |
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