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Cited by 878Indian and Buddhist StudiesClassical Studies and PhilologyComparative and World Literature

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The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India

Pollock, Sheldon·2006·University of California Press eBooks
DOI 10.1525/9780520932029
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Abstract

In this work of impressive scholarship, Sheldon Pollock explores the remarkable rise and fall of Sanskrit, India's ancient language, as a vehicle of poetry and polity. He traces the two great moments of its transformation: the first around the beginning of the Common Era, when Sanskrit, long a sacred language, was reinvented as a code for literary and political expression, the start of an amazing career that saw Sanskrit literary culture spread from Afghanistan to Java. The second moment occurred around the beginning of the second millennium, when local speech forms challenged and eventually replaced Sanskrit in both the literary and political arenas. Drawing striking parallels, chronologically as well as structurally, with the rise of Latin literature and the Roman empire, and with the new vernacular literatures and nation-states of late-medieval Europe, The Language of the Gods in the World of Men asks whether these very different histories challenge current theories of culture and power and suggest new possibilities for practice.

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Metadata

Authors
Pollock, S.
Corresponding author
Pollock, Sheldon
Venue
University of California Press eBooks
Publisher
University of California Press
Published
2006-05-23
DOI
10.1525/9780520932029
OpenAlex
W4255323775
Cited by
876
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 69 · 2025: 45 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 71 · 2022: 43 · 2021: 86 · 2020: 81 · 2019: 137 · 2018: 71 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 28 · 2014: 49 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 17
FWCI
42.68
Type
book
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
University of California Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Indian and Buddhist Studies
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Classical Studies and Philology
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Comparative and World Literature
Keywords
Sanskrit, Sanskrit literature, vernacularization, language and power, Sanskrit poetry, Latin literature, Roman Empire, vernacular literature, nation-state, culture and power

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