Stri

McGrath, Kevin:
Strī : women in epic Mahābhārata / Kevin McGrath. - Boston, Mass. : Ilex Foundation ; Washington, DC : Center for Hellenic Studies, Trustees for Harvard University ; Cambridge, Mass. : Distributed by Harvard University Press, 2009. - viii, 232 S. - (Ilex Foundation Series ; 2)
ISBN 978-0-674-03198-2 / 0-674-03198-9
US$ 24,95 / £ 18,95 / EUR 22,50
DDC: 294.5923046

Beschreibung
This book is a study of heroic femininity as it appears in the epic Mahābhārata, and focuses particularly on the roles of wife, daughter-in-law, and mother, on how these women speak and on the kinship groups and varying marital systems that surround them. It portrays those qualities that cohere about women in the poem, which are particular to them and which distinguish them as women, and describes how women heroes function as crucial speakers in the generation and maintenance of cultural value and worth. This includes men who have been transformed into women and women who have been reincarnated as men. The overall method accomplishes an ethnography of text, describing a special aspect of the bronze age preliterate and premonetary world as it is represented by the actions and metaphors of Mahābhārata. References to contemporary Indian cinema and popular culture support the narrative of the book, bringing modern valence to the arguments. [Verlagsinformation]

Inhalt
Acknowledgments. vii
1. Introduction. 1
2. Kinship and Marriage. 27
   1. Terms. 31
   2. Wooing and Marriage. 35
   3. The svayaṃvara. 41
   4. The rākṣasa Form of Marriage. 51
   5. The gāndharva Form of Marriage. 62
   6. Other Aspects of Marital Union. 65
   7. The Co-Wife. 71
3. Women Heroes. 76
   1. Kuntī. 81
   2. Gāndhārī. 95
   3. Damayantī. 100
   4. Sāvitrī. 106
   5. Ambā. 109
4. Draupadī. 117
   1. Marriage. 119
   2. The sabhā. 122
   3. The Forest. 127
   4. The Court of Virāṭa. 139
   5. Prior to War. 149
   6. After the War 151
5. Speaking of Truth. 154
   1. Śakuntalā. 157
   2. Gāndhārī. 162
   3. Draupadī. 165
   4. Kuntī. 177
   5. Lamentation. 183
6. Epilogue. 190
   1. Landscape and Rivers. 197
   2. Sexuality. 204
   3. Women Heroes Today. 211
Bibliography. 219
Index. 229

Autor
Kevin McGrath is Associate of the Department of Indian and Sanskrit Studies at Harvard University.

Quellen: Harvard University Press; WorldCat; Amazon.