Gender Studies 333ND - Love/Gender in Indian Lit.

Seminar on love, desire and gender, major themes in Indian literature. We will read classic poems, plays, and narratives in translation from Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi, and other languages, in relation to aesthetic theory, visual arts (miniature paintings) and performance genres (Indian dance and the modern Bollywood cinema). Study of the conventions of courtly love, including aesthetic mood (rasa) and natural landscapes, and their transformation in Hindu bhakti and Sufi Muslim mystical texts, the Radha-Krishna myth, and film. Focus on representations of women and men, and on issues of power, voice, and agency.

Course limited to sophomores, juniors and seniors