The Word in the World

H S Shivaprakash is poet, playwright, translator, and is one among the prominent literary figures in contemporary India. Recognized as a fresh voice in Kannada Literature at a young age, he eventually became an eminent bilingual poet and translator across multiple languages. As a renowned scholarly authority on Kannada Vachana literature, Sufism, Indian Bhakti traditions, and mystic symbolism, his literary prowess lies in reinventing the aesthetic elements in Indian mysticism. His first play titled Mahachaitra was published in 1986, followed by a stage adaption. He has received several accolades for his contributions to Indian Literature and Aesthetics, including the Sahitya Akademi Award. Apart from publishing anthologies of poems in different languages, plays, and books, he is also a prolific translator credited with translating Shakespeare’s plays into Kannada. Presently, he is a Professor at School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU and the Director of the Cultural Centre at Berlin, known as the Tagore Centre. Kamalakar Bhat is Associate Professor at the Postgraduate Department of English at Ahmednagar College, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. He is a bilingual writer and a translator between Kannada, English, and Marathi. His publications include three collections of poems in Kannada, the first Churuparu Reshime appeared in 2006 and won the Pu Ti Na Award for Best Book. The second, Mugiyada Madhyahna appeared in 2010 and the third, Jagada Jate Matu Kate was published in 2017. He has translated into English the poetry of several contemporary Kannada poets including S Manjunath, Jayant Kaikini, Abdul Rashid, N K Hanumantayya, K Sharifa, Mogalli Ganesh, and H S Anupama. He has also translated the poetry of the iconic Marathi Dalit poet Namdev Dhasal and published a reader on him in Kannada.

Acknowledgements

Preface

Foreword

Introduction

The Bhakti World

1 Transmutations of Desire and Power in Bhakti Expressions

2 Bhakti Poetics: An Example from Kannada Vachanas

3 Transformations of the Hero in Medieval Indian Literatures

4 The Poetics and Aesthetics of Labour

5 Fight for Symbols in the History of Religions in Medieval South India: The Karnataka Example

6 Dasimiah - The Divine Weaver

7 Journeying to Kalyana

8 From Temple to Body-temple: Kannada transformations of Tamil Shaivism

9 What Were You Before I Knew Myself? - Notes on De-creation and Recreation of Virashaiva Myths in

Cultures of Karnataka

The Kannada World

10 Rethinking Medieval Kannada Literature

11 Contributions of Karnataka Devotional Movements to the Creation of New Theatres

12 Migration of Karaga from Tamil Nadu Karnataka

13 Modernism and After: Some Reflections on Contemporary Kannada Poetry

14 KSNa: The Heart-Bee has Flown . . . Do Not Ask Me Where

The World of Drama

15 The Search for the New in Indian Drama and Theatre

16 Rasa Production: A Poet’s Perspective

17 Theatre as Performed Literature?

18 The Evolution of Modern Indian theatre

19 Shakespeare and the Indian Theatre Tradition

20 The Regional, the National, and the International in Theatre

21 Manipuri Theatre: Myth and Reality

22 Metamorphosis of Poetry on Stage

23 The life and Death of White Desdemona and Black Othello: Through Abhinava Kalidasa - A Re-interpretation

The World of Indian Cultures and Literatures

24 Currents and Cross-currents of South Indian Cultures

25 Dynamics of Pre-modern South Indian Culture

26 Through Each Other’s Eyes: Rodin and Nataraja

27 Indian Culture beyond India

28 Contemporary Indian Literatures

29 Dreaming Indian Literatures Anew

30 Exploring Unchartered Territories of Indian Literature

31 Changing the Sun: Notes on Modernity, Modernism and After in Indian Literatures

32 The Outcaste at the City Gate

33 Some Problems and Politics of Translation

34 Translating the Tehsildar

35 Loss of Home: Notes on Diasporic Writings