South Asian Popular Cultures (261-0-20)
Topic
Living Indian Epics - Ramayana
Instructors
Laura Rebecca Brueck
847/467-4746
1880 Campus Drive, Kresge Hall, Office 4-427
Office Hours: Varies quarter to quarter, please check with instructor.
Meeting Info
Kresge Centennial Hall 2-425: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM
Overview of class
AY 22 -23 This course will consider one of two fundamental mythological pillars of Indian society - the great Hindu epic, The Ramayana (Story of Rama). Thought to be composed almost three thousand years ago (give or take a few centuries), this epic tale has been re-told and re-imagined in changing social and cultural contexts ever since. This course is dedicated to understanding the nature of this ancient epic as a modern, "living" text in contemporary Indian society. After we develop, as a group, a basic understanding of the major events and characters of the Ramayana, we will explore it in modern contexts of literature, visual art, film, television, and political rhetoric. We will ask whether the resonance of the epic varies in each of these modern contexts, or if its "meanings" are as immortal as the tale itself. In light of several recent controversies resulting from both scholarly and aesthetic approaches to the Ramayana, we will also consider the difficulty of bridging the fraught divides between religion, literature, history, and art. Therefore this course will provide you with an introduction not only to the fascinating stories of the ancient epic literature itself, but also to major issues of religion, gender, popular culture, and social politics in contemporary India. By the end of the course you will be able to understand and explain how the modern and contemporary cultures of India are constructed, in part, through a constant re-evaluation of the Ramayana among other Hindu epic narratives.
Learning Objectives
You will become very familiar with one of the foundation narratives shaping classical and modern Hindu-Indian society.
You will learn how to understand the intersections of religion, literature, art, and politics.
You will think critically about the ways in which classical religious and literary texts can have significant impacts on modern notions of belonging and exclusion.
Teaching Method
Lecture and Discussion
Evaluation Method
discussion, quizzes, midterm and final, short writing assignments.
Class Materials (Required)
RK Narayan, The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic (Penguin Classics, 2006)
ISBN: 978-0-143-03967-9
All other materials will be available on Canvas.
Class Attributes
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area