Miller, Barbara Stoler (ed.);
Masterworks of Asian literature in comparative perspective: a guide for teaching
M.E. Sharpe (Columbia project on Asia in the core curriculum), 1994, 583 pages
ISBN 1563242583, 9781563242588
topics: | literature | sanskrit | japanese | chinese | stolermiller-b-1994_masterworks-asian-literature.epub
Though details vary from version to version, the basic story remains recognizable. Once, the King of Banaras offers his daughter in marriage to a certain Brahman pandit, but she refuses on the grounds that she is a greater scholar than the pandit and cannot serve him. Determined to trick her, the pandit finds a handsome cowherd whom he dressed in the garb of a pandit and makes him memorize a Sanskrit greeting. Though he tries to carry out these instructions, the cowherd only utters nonsense syllables, but the pandit cleverly construes a benedictory verse to Siva out of them and the princess is tricked. When she discovers that he is a fool, she angrily assigns him to gather flowers. Each day he stops before an image of the goddess Kali and offers a few flowers to her with reverence. One of the palace maids, in order to tease him, conceals herself behind the image, chewing a ball of betel nut. When the cowherd finishes his usual prayers, the maid puts the remnants of her chewing into his hand. He thinks the goddess herself has presented it to him, so he swallows it. Instantly, unlimited knowledge of logic and grammar dawns in him, and he becomes a great poet, endowed with the power of speech. From his great reverence for the goddess Kali, he came to be known as Kalidasa, the servant of Kali. (p.59)
Contents by country Contents by Genre xi Preface xv Guide to the Reader xvii Principles of Transliteration and Pronunciation Guide xix Introduction : Masterworks of Asian Literature in Comparative Perspective Barbara Stoler Miller xxv
The Imaginative Universe of Indian Literature Barbara Stoler Miller 3 A Note on Modern Indian Literature David Rubin 15 The Imaginative Universe of Chinese Literature Pauline Yu and Theodore Huters 21 The Imaginative Universe of Japanese Literature Haruo Shirane 37 A Note on Modern Japanese Literature Paul Anderer 51
Classical Sanskrit Lyric: Poetry of Love and Loss Barbara Stoler Miller 55 Classical Tamil Poetry and Tamil Poetics Rajagopal Parthasarathy 66 Devotional Poetry of Medieval North India John Stratton Hawley 78 Lyric Text: Hindi Lyric Poetry in Urdu: The Ghazal Shamsur Rahman Faruqi and Frances W. Pritchett 94 Lyric Text: Urdu 104 The Poems and Stories of Rabindranath Tagore William Radice 109
The Mahabharata, Including the Bhagavad Gita Barbara Stoler Miller 123 The Ramayana of Valmiki Robert P. Goldman 133 Anita Desai: Fire on the Mountain and Games at Twilight Robin Jared Lewis 149 R. K. Narayan's The Financial Expert Bharati Mukherjee 157 The Short Stories of Premchand David Rubin 167 Salman Rushdie: Midnight's Children Robin Jared Lewis 178 Samskara: The Passing of the Brahman Tradition Rajagopal Parthasarathy 189 p--Drama-- Two Classical Indian Plays: Kalidasa's Sakuntala and Sudraka's Little Clay Cart Barbara Stoler Miller 201
The Book of Songs Pauline Yu 211 The Poetry of Retreat Pauline Yu 222 Tang Poetry: A Return to Basics Burton Watson 232
Chuang Tzu Shuen-fu Lin 245 The Records of the Historian Joseph Roe Allen III 259 The Journey to the West Andrew H. Plaks 272 Cao Xueqin's Hongloumeng (Story of the Stone or Dream of the Red Chamber) Anthony C. Yu 285 Liu E's The Travels of Lao Can C. T. Hsia 299 The Stories of Lu Xun Theodore Huters 309 Camel Xiangzi (Rickshaw) by Lao She David D. W. Wang 321 Contemporary Chinese Lettres Theodore Huters 330 Timeline of Significant Events in China, 1911-1987, in Relation to Contemporary Chinese Lettres 345
Story of the Western Wing (Xixiang ji) (Romance of the Western Chamber) Stephen H. West and Wilt L. Idema 347
The Man'yoshu and Kokinshu Collections Donald Keene 363 The Poetry of Matsuo Basho Haruo Shirane 378
The Tale of Genji Edward G. Seidensticker and Haruo Shirane 390 A Book of One's Own: The Gossamer Years; the Pillow Book; and the Confessions of Lady Nijo Barbara Ruch 404 "An Account of My Hut" Paul Anderer 420 Seven Japanese Tales Ken K. Ito 428 Beyond Absolution: Enchi Fumiko's The Waiting Years and Masks Barbara Ruch 439 The Woman in the Dunes John Whittier Treat 457 Mishima Yukio, The Allegorist Richard Torrance 470 Kawabata Yasunari's Snow Country Michael C. Brownstein 481 Soseki's Kokoro Paul Anderer 493
Three Plays of the Noh Theater Thomas Blenman Hare 501 The Love Suicides at Sonezaki http://www.yavanika.org/classes/reader/keene.pdf Donald Keene 517
East-West Literary Relations: The "Wisdom" of the "East" Lucien Miller 526 Summaries of the Masterworks 539 Historical Timelines 553 Indian History 555 Chinese History 558 Japanese History 561 Index 563 Contributors
Stoler Miller died in 1993 while compiling this book, and the volume is dedicated to her. She was 53.