Kabir Poems in Transformation: A Fountain of Creativity by Peter Friedlander
INFORMATION
- AUTHOR : Peter Friedlander
- HB ISBN : 978-93-5572-727-5
- Year : 2023
- Extent : 322
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Kabir Poems in Transformation: A Fountain of Creativity explores how images of Kabir, in circulation amongst his Hindi-speaking followers at the start of the twentieth century, were transformed into versions of Kabir more acceptable to global English-speaking audiences in contemporary times. This work investigates how the creation of an image of Kabir as an ideal Indian mystic poet led to the eclipse of Kabir as the voice of the lower castes and marginalized communities in India. The argument is that rather than seeing an idealized version of his persona through the lens of any particular segment of the audience, Kabir should be studied through the multiplicity of images transmitted amongst diverse communities within India and around the world. This book focuses on the networks of contexts in which these verses were transmitted, and where such a significant transformation took place. These include Hindi print editions published 1907 onwards, Bengali anthologies by Kshitimohan Sen in 1910–11, and English translations by Rabindranath Tagore and Evelyn Underhill published as One Hundred Verses of Kabir in 1914.
The Author
Peter Friedlander is Associate Professor of Hindi at the School of Culture, History & Language, Australian National University. He began studying Hindi and Indian cultures while living in Varanasi in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After spending time at the Kabir Chaura Monastery in Varanasi in 1985 he went on to write a PhD on the life and works of Raidas (1991) followed by postdoctoral research on the history of Hindi literature. Friedlander has taught at La Trobe University and the National University of Singapore. His research focuses on the relationship between Hindi language, religion, society and politics, and sants such as Ravidās and Kabīr on whom he has published several articles. His publications on Kabīr and Raidas include ‘Tagore, Kabir and Underhill’ (2011); ‘Kabir and the Print Sphere’ (2012); ‘Kabir: Oral to Manuscript Transitions’ (2015); and ‘Reassessing Religion and Politics in the Life of Jagjivan Ram’ (2020).