Tuesday, 2 September 2003. Introduction and description of course.

  4 Sep. What is poetry? Bring a list of five or six features.

  9-11 Sep. Vedic period. Agni. Genesis Hymns. Frogs. Purusha. Gambler's Lament. Essay 1: The hymn and the poem.

16-18 Sep. Sanskrit court poetry and the notion of rasa. Those who get their preliminary drafts of Essay #1 back on the 16th bring final version on the 18th. Others bring final version on the 23rd.

23-25 Sep. Presentation of Kalidasa. Bring Essay 2: Modern poetry and rasa.

30 Sep. Sangam poetry and the notion of dhvani.

 2 Oct. Prakrit poetry of Hala's anthology and poetry of the ritikala.

  7 Oct. Bring Essay 3: Applications of dhvani. The Alvars and Tamil Bhakti poetry.

  9 Oct. Basavanna and Kannada Bhakti poetry.

(13-14 Oct: Fall Study Break)

16 Oct. Tukaram and Marathi bhakti poetry.

21 Oct. Kabir.

23 Oct. Mira Bai and North Indian Bhakti poetry. Essay 4: Paradox in Bhakti poetry.

28 Oct. Urdu and Urdu poetry. Russell reading (coursepack).

30 Oct. Exam review.

4 Nov. Midterm exam.

  6 Nov. Sufis. The ghazal. Read article by Faruqi. Assignment 5: first draft of ghazal.

11 Nov. Mir

13 Nov. Ghalib. Ghalib.

18 Nov. Mir, Zafar, and Iqbal. Bring second draft of ghazal.

20 Nov. Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Faiz Ahmed Faiz . Class mushaira.

25 Nov. Rabindranath Tagore and the Bengal Renaissance. Essay 6: Close reading of a poem (see description of assignment on p. 91 of coursepack.) Or general essay on 'Compression in Urdu Poetry'.

  2 Dec. Kamla Das, Attiya Daud, and other contemporary women poets of India and Pakistan.

  4 Dec. Anglo-Indian poetry: Aga Shahid Ali. Ramanujan. Vikram Seth. Poetry in the Indian diaspora.

  9 Dec. Film songs and popular lyrics. Essay 7 (optional) due.

12 Dec. Write-up of course presentation due.

Published sources of readings.

Back to course description.

Last updated 4 Aug 2004.