The two aspects of this course that I am most excited about are getting a general familiarity with Indian culture and reading stories that are completely new to me. I have very little familiarity with Non-Western culture, and this class will be a great way to change that fact.
I am also looking forward to the second part of the class where we have the chance to choose our own reading. There will definitely be plenty of material to study given the absolutely staggering length of the Mahabharata (1.8 million words according to Wikipedia).
I like this image of Sita in the fire because of the multiple interesting elements which come together to tell a story and because of the color. It also reminds me of a scene from Game of Thrones.
Sita in the fire, Wikimedia Commons
Yes indeed, Carey, that Game of Thrones comparison is SO TRUE: I have really benefited from a Game-of-Thrones boost in both of the classes I teach! The scene of Sita in the fire is one of the most intense and controversial parts of the Ramayana story, and it comes as a real shock after the fairy-tale way the story begins, as you'll see very soon.
ReplyDeleteAbout the length of the Mahabharata: it is indeed VERY long. In Bizzell, we have the big 3-volume Amar Chitra Katha edition which combines 42 separate single-issue comic books to tell the story... and even that is not the whole story! If you are curious, there is a complete English translation online at Sacred Texts; I have a physical copy of this translation, and it fills up half of a bookshelf all by itself. Online, it is less intimidating! :-)
The Mahabharata (Ganguli translation)
You can see that big 3-volume edition off to the right end of the shelf of our comic books at the Reserve desk!
Bizzell Reserves
I am really curious to see what you will think of the epics as you get started!