History of Protest Literature in India: Trails from the Bhakti Literature
Keywords:
Bhakti literature, protest movements, religion and community
Abstract
Abstract:
“Better is to live one day virtuous and meditative than to live a hundred years immoral and uncontrolled†(The Buddha)
Bhakti movement in India has been a path-breaking phenomenon that provided a solid shape and an identifiable face to the abstractions with the help of vernacular language. As a religious movement, it emphasized a strong personal and emotional bond between devotees and a personal God. It has come from the Sanskrit word Bhaj- ‘to share’. It began as a tradition of devotional songs, hagiographical or philosophical – religious texts which have generated a common ground for people of all the sects in the society to come together. As counterculture, it embraced into its fold all sections of people breaking the barriers of caste, class, community, and gender. It added an inclusive dimension to the hitherto privileged, exclusivist, Upanishadic tradition. It has provided a very critical outlook on contemporary Brahminical orthodoxy and played a crucial role in the emergence of modern poetry in India. This paper elaborates on the positioning of the Bhakti Movement in the context of Protest narratives in India.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
References:
• Afrocentric Visions: Studies in Culture and Communication. Sage Publications. The USA. 1999
• Ambedkar B. R., Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Writings and Speeches, vol 1, Education Department, Government of Maharashtra, Bombay. 1978
• Andrew Schelling, Oxford Anthology of Bhakti Literature. OUP India. 2011
• Behl, Aditya. “Presence and Absence in Bhakti: An Afterword.†International Journal of Hindu Studies, vol. 11, no. 3, 2007
• Bheemaiah, J. "Theorizing Dalit Metaphor: The Impact of Contemporary Social Protest Movements in India." International Journal of English: Literature, Language & Skills. 2011
• Bhowmik, Davinder & Steve Rabson. Islands of Protest: Japanese Literature from Okinawa University of Hawai Press. 2016.
• Burchett, Patton. "Bhakti Rhetoric in the Hagiography of ‘Untouchable’ Saints: Discerning Bhakti’s Ambivalence on Caste and Brahminhood." International Journal of Hindu Studies 13.2 (2009):
• Callewaert, Winand M., ed. Early Hindi Devotional Literature in Current Research: Proceedings of the International Middle Hindi Bhakti Conference (April 1979) Organized by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Vol. 8. Department Orientalistiek, 1980.
• Dangle, Arjun. Poisoned Bread: Translations from Modern Marathi Dalit Literature. Orient Longman, 1992
• Das, Sisir Kumar. History of Indian Literature: 1911-1956, struggle for freedom: triumph and tragedy. Vol. 1. Sahitya Akademi, 2005.
• Drake, Kimberly. The literature of Protest.Salem Press. 2013
• Faye, Harrison. Outsider Within: Reworking Anthropology in the Global Age. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 2008
• Faye, Harrison. The Persistent Power of "Race" in the Cultural and Political Economy of Racism. Annual Review of Anthropology 24:47-74.
• Guru, Gopal, Humiliation: Claims and Context. Oxford University Press Delhi. 2008
• Hawley, John Stratton. The Bhakti Movement--from Where? Since When?. India International Centre, 2009.
• Hawley, John Stratton. Three Bhakti Voices: Mirabai, Surdas, and Kabir in Their Times and Ours. OUP India, 2012.
• Hilliard, Nunn, Representing African Women in Movies in J. D. Hamlet (Ed.), 1998
• Kumar, Akshaya. “Translating Bhakti: Versions of Kabir in Colonial/Early Nationalist Period.†Indian Literature, vol. 50, no. 1 (231), 2006,
• Larson, Gerald James "Scholarship on Religion and Communities of Faith," Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies: Vol. 20, Article 10. 2007
• Lele, Jayant, ed. Tradition and modernity in Bhakti movements. Vol. 31. Brill Archive, 1981.
• Lohia, Rammanohar, The Caste System, Rammanohar Lohia Samta Vidyalaya Nyas, Hyderabad. 1964
• M. Rajagopalachary (Editor), K. Damodar Rao, Bhakti Movement, and Literature: Re-forming a Tradition, Rawat Publications. 2016
• MAJUMDAR, SWAPAN. “The Dense Desolate Pathway : Routes of Bhakti in Medieval Indian Literature.†Indian Literature, vol. 35, no. 3 (149), 1992,
• McGregor, Ronald Stuart, ed. Devotional Literature in South Asia: Current Research, 1985-1988. Vol. 46. Cambridge University Press, 1992.
• Nath, J.P., Socialist Leadership in India, Kanishka Publishers, New Delhi. 2002
• Novetzke, Christian Lee. “Bhakti and It's Public.†International Journal of Hindu Studies, vol. 11, no. 3, 2007
• Pandey Sangram lal, ‘Existence, Devotion and Freedom’Allahabad, Darshan Peeth . 1965
• Patricia D. Netzley, Social Protest Literature: An Encyclopedia of Works, Characters, Authors, and Themes. ABC-CLIO Literary Companion. 1999
• Ramanujan, Attipat Krishnaswami. The collected essays of AK Ramanujan. OUP India, 2004.
• Rao, K Damodar, and Madabhushanam Rajagopalacharya. “Bhakti Movement and Literature.†Rawat Publications, Jaipur . 2017:
• Reed, T.V. “Introduction†and “Reflections on the Cultural Study of Social Movements.†in the Art of Protest: Culture and Activism from the Civil Rights Movement to the Streets of Seattle. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005
• Satchidanandan, K. “REFLECTIONS: Kabir Today.†Indian Literature, vol. 43, no. 6 (194), 1999,
• Satyanarayana, Adapa. "Dalit protest literature in Telugu: A historical perspective." Economic and Political Weekly 1995:
• Sharan Kumar Limbale and Jaydeep Sarangi, Dalit Voice: Literature and Revolt. Authors Press, New Delhi. 2018
• Singh, Bhai Jodh. "Bhagat Ravidas: Jiwan Te Rachna (Bhagat Ravidass: Life and Works)." Patiala: Punjabi University 2000
• Thapar, R. (1981). Dissent and Protest in the Early Indian Tradition. Diogenes, 29(113–114), 31–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/039219218102911302
• Zelliot, Eleanor. "Chokhamela and Eknath: Two" Bhakti" Modes of Legitimacy for Modern Change." Journal of Asian and African Studies 15.1 1980
• Zelliot, Eleanor. "Chokhamela: Piety and protest." Bhakti Religion in North India: Community Identity and Political Action 1995:
• Zelliot, Eleanor. "The Medieval Bhakti Movement in History: An Essay on Literature in English." Hinduism. BRILL, 1982.
• Zoe, Trodd. American Protest Literature, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 2008
• Afrocentric Visions: Studies in Culture and Communication. Sage Publications. The USA. 1999
• Ambedkar B. R., Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Writings and Speeches, vol 1, Education Department, Government of Maharashtra, Bombay. 1978
• Andrew Schelling, Oxford Anthology of Bhakti Literature. OUP India. 2011
• Behl, Aditya. “Presence and Absence in Bhakti: An Afterword.†International Journal of Hindu Studies, vol. 11, no. 3, 2007
• Bheemaiah, J. "Theorizing Dalit Metaphor: The Impact of Contemporary Social Protest Movements in India." International Journal of English: Literature, Language & Skills. 2011
• Bhowmik, Davinder & Steve Rabson. Islands of Protest: Japanese Literature from Okinawa University of Hawai Press. 2016.
• Burchett, Patton. "Bhakti Rhetoric in the Hagiography of ‘Untouchable’ Saints: Discerning Bhakti’s Ambivalence on Caste and Brahminhood." International Journal of Hindu Studies 13.2 (2009):
• Callewaert, Winand M., ed. Early Hindi Devotional Literature in Current Research: Proceedings of the International Middle Hindi Bhakti Conference (April 1979) Organized by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Vol. 8. Department Orientalistiek, 1980.
• Dangle, Arjun. Poisoned Bread: Translations from Modern Marathi Dalit Literature. Orient Longman, 1992
• Das, Sisir Kumar. History of Indian Literature: 1911-1956, struggle for freedom: triumph and tragedy. Vol. 1. Sahitya Akademi, 2005.
• Drake, Kimberly. The literature of Protest.Salem Press. 2013
• Faye, Harrison. Outsider Within: Reworking Anthropology in the Global Age. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 2008
• Faye, Harrison. The Persistent Power of "Race" in the Cultural and Political Economy of Racism. Annual Review of Anthropology 24:47-74.
• Guru, Gopal, Humiliation: Claims and Context. Oxford University Press Delhi. 2008
• Hawley, John Stratton. The Bhakti Movement--from Where? Since When?. India International Centre, 2009.
• Hawley, John Stratton. Three Bhakti Voices: Mirabai, Surdas, and Kabir in Their Times and Ours. OUP India, 2012.
• Hilliard, Nunn, Representing African Women in Movies in J. D. Hamlet (Ed.), 1998
• Kumar, Akshaya. “Translating Bhakti: Versions of Kabir in Colonial/Early Nationalist Period.†Indian Literature, vol. 50, no. 1 (231), 2006,
• Larson, Gerald James "Scholarship on Religion and Communities of Faith," Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies: Vol. 20, Article 10. 2007
• Lele, Jayant, ed. Tradition and modernity in Bhakti movements. Vol. 31. Brill Archive, 1981.
• Lohia, Rammanohar, The Caste System, Rammanohar Lohia Samta Vidyalaya Nyas, Hyderabad. 1964
• M. Rajagopalachary (Editor), K. Damodar Rao, Bhakti Movement, and Literature: Re-forming a Tradition, Rawat Publications. 2016
• MAJUMDAR, SWAPAN. “The Dense Desolate Pathway : Routes of Bhakti in Medieval Indian Literature.†Indian Literature, vol. 35, no. 3 (149), 1992,
• McGregor, Ronald Stuart, ed. Devotional Literature in South Asia: Current Research, 1985-1988. Vol. 46. Cambridge University Press, 1992.
• Nath, J.P., Socialist Leadership in India, Kanishka Publishers, New Delhi. 2002
• Novetzke, Christian Lee. “Bhakti and It's Public.†International Journal of Hindu Studies, vol. 11, no. 3, 2007
• Pandey Sangram lal, ‘Existence, Devotion and Freedom’Allahabad, Darshan Peeth . 1965
• Patricia D. Netzley, Social Protest Literature: An Encyclopedia of Works, Characters, Authors, and Themes. ABC-CLIO Literary Companion. 1999
• Ramanujan, Attipat Krishnaswami. The collected essays of AK Ramanujan. OUP India, 2004.
• Rao, K Damodar, and Madabhushanam Rajagopalacharya. “Bhakti Movement and Literature.†Rawat Publications, Jaipur . 2017:
• Reed, T.V. “Introduction†and “Reflections on the Cultural Study of Social Movements.†in the Art of Protest: Culture and Activism from the Civil Rights Movement to the Streets of Seattle. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005
• Satchidanandan, K. “REFLECTIONS: Kabir Today.†Indian Literature, vol. 43, no. 6 (194), 1999,
• Satyanarayana, Adapa. "Dalit protest literature in Telugu: A historical perspective." Economic and Political Weekly 1995:
• Sharan Kumar Limbale and Jaydeep Sarangi, Dalit Voice: Literature and Revolt. Authors Press, New Delhi. 2018
• Singh, Bhai Jodh. "Bhagat Ravidas: Jiwan Te Rachna (Bhagat Ravidass: Life and Works)." Patiala: Punjabi University 2000
• Thapar, R. (1981). Dissent and Protest in the Early Indian Tradition. Diogenes, 29(113–114), 31–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/039219218102911302
• Zelliot, Eleanor. "Chokhamela and Eknath: Two" Bhakti" Modes of Legitimacy for Modern Change." Journal of Asian and African Studies 15.1 1980
• Zelliot, Eleanor. "Chokhamela: Piety and protest." Bhakti Religion in North India: Community Identity and Political Action 1995:
• Zelliot, Eleanor. "The Medieval Bhakti Movement in History: An Essay on Literature in English." Hinduism. BRILL, 1982.
• Zoe, Trodd. American Protest Literature, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 2008
Published
2020-12-03
How to Cite
Oza, P. (2020). History of Protest Literature in India: Trails from the Bhakti Literature. International Journal of Interreligious and Intercultural Studies, 3(2), 38-49. https://doi.org/10.32795/ijiis.vol3.iss2.2020.711
Section
Articles
