The Quotidian Revolution

Vernacularization, Religion, and the Premodern Public Sphere in India

Nonfiction, History, Asian, India, Religion & Spirituality, Eastern Religions, Hinduism, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book The Quotidian Revolution by Christian Lee Novetzke, Columbia University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Christian Lee Novetzke ISBN: 9780231542418
Publisher: Columbia University Press Publication: October 18, 2016
Imprint: Columbia University Press Language: English
Author: Christian Lee Novetzke
ISBN: 9780231542418
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication: October 18, 2016
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Language: English

In thirteenth-century Maharashtra, a new vernacular literature emerged to challenge the hegemony of Sanskrit, a language largely restricted to men of high caste. In a vivid and accessible idiom, this new Marathi literature inaugurated a public debate over the ethics of social difference grounded in the idiom of everyday life. The arguments of vernacular intellectuals pushed the question of social inclusion into ever-wider social realms, spearheading the development of a nascent premodern public sphere that valorized the quotidian world in sociopolitical terms.

The Quotidian Revolution examines this pivotal moment of vernacularization in Indian literature, religion, and public life by investigating courtly donative Marathi inscriptions alongside the first extant texts of Marathi literature: the Lilacaritra (1278) and the Jñanesvari (1290). Novetzke revisits the influence of Chakradhar (c. 1194), the founder of the Mahanubhav religion, and Jnandev (c. 1271), who became a major figure of the Varkari religion, to observe how these avant-garde and worldly elites pursued a radical intervention into the social questions and ethics of the age. Drawing on political anthropology and contemporary theories of social justice, religion, and the public sphere, The Quotidian Revolution explores the specific circumstances of this new discourse oriented around everyday life and its lasting legacy: widening the space of public debate in a way that presages key aspects of Indian modernity and democracy.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In thirteenth-century Maharashtra, a new vernacular literature emerged to challenge the hegemony of Sanskrit, a language largely restricted to men of high caste. In a vivid and accessible idiom, this new Marathi literature inaugurated a public debate over the ethics of social difference grounded in the idiom of everyday life. The arguments of vernacular intellectuals pushed the question of social inclusion into ever-wider social realms, spearheading the development of a nascent premodern public sphere that valorized the quotidian world in sociopolitical terms.

The Quotidian Revolution examines this pivotal moment of vernacularization in Indian literature, religion, and public life by investigating courtly donative Marathi inscriptions alongside the first extant texts of Marathi literature: the Lilacaritra (1278) and the Jñanesvari (1290). Novetzke revisits the influence of Chakradhar (c. 1194), the founder of the Mahanubhav religion, and Jnandev (c. 1271), who became a major figure of the Varkari religion, to observe how these avant-garde and worldly elites pursued a radical intervention into the social questions and ethics of the age. Drawing on political anthropology and contemporary theories of social justice, religion, and the public sphere, The Quotidian Revolution explores the specific circumstances of this new discourse oriented around everyday life and its lasting legacy: widening the space of public debate in a way that presages key aspects of Indian modernity and democracy.

More books from Columbia University Press

Cover of the book Stem Cell Dialogues by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Wombs in Labor by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Theology, Rhetoric, and Politics in the Eucharistic Controversy, 1078-1079 by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Beating Hearts by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Public Art and the Fragility of Democracy by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book A Survival Guide to the Misinformation Age by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book On the Parole Board by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Art of Memories by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Data Love by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book The Hudson by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Hard-Boiled Sentimentality by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book The Homoerotics of Orientalism by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Accounting for Value by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Robert K. Merton by Christian Lee Novetzke
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy