Tlie Collected Essays of A.K. Ramanujan

654 Pages·2016·26.05 MB·English

by  Dharwadker Vinay (Ed.)

Books in English by A.K. Ramanujan
Tlie Collected Essays of
POETRY
The Striders ( 1966) A.K. Ramanujan
Relations (19 7 1)
Selected Poems ( 1976)
Second Sight ( 1986)
Collecred Poems, including The Blrlt k Heti (posthumous. 1995)
TRANSLATIONS
The Interior hndscape ( 1967)
Speaking of ~iv(a 1 973)
Samskara by U.R. Anantha Murthy (1976)
Hymnsfor the Drowning ( 1 98 1 )
Poems of Love and Wor ( 1985)
When Cod Is o Customer, with V.N arayuna Rao and David Shulman
(posthumous, 1994)
CO-AUTHORED AND EGTTED BOOKS
GENERALE DITOR
The Literatures ofIndia, with Edward C. Dimock, Jr., and others (1974)
Another Harmony, ed. with Stuart Blackburn (1986) Vinay Dharwadker
Folktales from Indicl (, 1992)
TheOxfordAntholog~ofModernIndioPn oetty, ed. with Vinay Dharwadker
CONTRIBUTORS
(posthumous, 1994)
Stuart Blackburn
Books in Kannada by A.K. Ramanujan John B. Carrnan
Edward C. Dirnock, Jr
Proverbs (1955)
Wendy Doniger
Haladi Meenu (~rarislaliono f English novel. 1966)
Alan Dundes
Hokkulalli Hrrvillu (,poems, 1969)
Krishna Rarnanujan
Mattu lturtl P~dyagolu( poems. 1977)
Milton B. Singer
Martobbancl A:rnclkure (novella. 1978)
~b:qfobille(p ~ems1, 990)
OXFORD
I'SIVERSITY PRESS
Books in English by A.K. Ramanujan
Tlie Collected Essays of
POETRY
The Striders ( 1966) A.K. Ramanujan
Relations (19 7 1)
Selected Poems ( 1976)
Second Sight ( 1986)
Collecred Poems, including The Blrlt k Heti (posthumous. 1995)
TRANSLATIONS
The Interior hndscape ( 1967)
Speaking of ~iv(a 1 973)
Samskara by U.R. Anantha Murthy (1976)
Hymnsfor the Drowning ( 1 98 1 )
Poems of Love and Wor ( 1985)
When Cod Is o Customer, with V.N arayuna Rao and David Shulman
(posthumous, 1994)
CO-AUTHORED AND EGTTED BOOKS
GENERALE DITOR
The Literatures ofIndia, with Edward C. Dimock, Jr., and others (1974)
Another Harmony, ed. with Stuart Blackburn (1986) Vinay Dharwadker
Folktales from Indicl (, 1992)
TheOxfordAntholog~ofModernIndioPn oetty, ed. with Vinay Dharwadker
CONTRIBUTORS
(posthumous, 1994)
Stuart Blackburn
Books in Kannada by A.K. Ramanujan John B. Carrnan
Edward C. Dirnock, Jr
Proverbs (1955)
Wendy Doniger
Haladi Meenu (~rarislaliono f English novel. 1966)
Alan Dundes
Hokkulalli Hrrvillu (,poems, 1969)
Krishna Rarnanujan
Mattu lturtl P~dyagolu( poems. 1977)
Milton B. Singer
Martobbancl A:rnclkure (novella. 1978)
~b:qfobille(p ~ems1, 990)
OXFORD
I'SIVERSITY PRESS
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY I'RESS Contents
YMCAL ibrary Building. Jai Singh Road. New Delhi 110 001
xford University press is a departnlent of the University of Oxford. It fi~rthersth e
University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishiilg worldwide in
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dares Salaam Hoilg Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur
Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Dellli Shanghai Taipei Toronto
With offices in
Argentina Austria Brazil Cllile Czecll Republic France Greece Guatemala General Editor's Preface
Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland
VINAYD HARWADKER vii
Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Introduction: Two Tributes fo A.K. Ramanujan
Oxford is a registered tradenlark of Oxford University Press
in the UK and in certain other countries MILTONB . SINGER xii
EDWARCD. D IMOCKJ,R ., AND KRISHNRAA MANUJAN xiv
Published in India by Oxford University Press, New Delhi
O Selection and ~ditoriaml atter I. General Essays on Literature and Culture
Oxford University Press 1999
Copyright illformatioil on individual essays is included in the INTRODUCTIBOYN W ENDYD ON~GER
Copyright Statenlent at the end of the book 1 Where Mirrors Are Windows: Towards dn
The moral rights of the author have been asserted Anthology of Reflections
Database right Oxford University Press (maker) 2 Is There an Indian Way of Thinking?
An Informal Essay
First published 1999
Second impression 2001 3 Towards an Anthology of City Images
Oxford India Paperbacks 2004 4 Food for Thought: Towards an Anthology of
Third ilnpression 2006
Hindu Food-images
Line illustration based on traditional South Indian kolan~ 5 Language and Social Change: The Tamil Example
by Ruknliili Krishnamurti
6 Some Thoughts on 'Non-Western' Classics:
All rights reserved. No part of this publication inay be reproduced.
With Indian Examples
or transmitted in any forill or by any means, electronic or mechanical.
including photocopying, recording or by any infornlation storage and
11. Essays on Classical Literatures
retrieval system, without permission in writing from Oxford University Press.
Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be INTRODUCTBIYO VNI NAYD HARWADKER
sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above
7 Three Hundred Ratnayanas: Five Examples and
You must not circulate this book ill any other binding or cover Three Thoughts on Translation
and you must impose this sanle condition on any acquirer 8 Repetition in the Mahlihharatu
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-566896-4 9 Classics Lost and Found
ISBN-10: 0-19-566896-0 10 Form in Classical Tamil Poetry
Typeset ill Garalllond by Gun1 Typograph Technology, New Delhi 110 045 I I On Translating a Tamil Poem
Printed in India by Saurabh Printers Pvt. Ltd.. Noida, UP 12 From Classicism to Bhukti (with Norman Cutler)
Published by Manzar Khan, Oxford University Press
YMCA Library Building, Jai Sing11 Road, New Delhi 110 001
OXFORD
UNIVERSITY I'RESS Contents
YMCAL ibrary Building. Jai Singh Road. New Delhi 110 001
xford University press is a departnlent of the University of Oxford. It fi~rthersth e
University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishiilg worldwide in
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dares Salaam Hoilg Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur
Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Dellli Shanghai Taipei Toronto
With offices in
Argentina Austria Brazil Cllile Czecll Republic France Greece Guatemala General Editor's Preface
Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland
VINAYD HARWADKER vii
Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Introduction: Two Tributes fo A.K. Ramanujan
Oxford is a registered tradenlark of Oxford University Press
in the UK and in certain other countries MILTONB . SINGER xii
EDWARCD. D IMOCKJ,R ., AND KRISHNRAA MANUJAN xiv
Published in India by Oxford University Press, New Delhi
O Selection and ~ditoriaml atter I. General Essays on Literature and Culture
Oxford University Press 1999
Copyright illformatioil on individual essays is included in the INTRODUCTIBOYN W ENDYD ON~GER
Copyright Statenlent at the end of the book 1 Where Mirrors Are Windows: Towards dn
The moral rights of the author have been asserted Anthology of Reflections
Database right Oxford University Press (maker) 2 Is There an Indian Way of Thinking?
An Informal Essay
First published 1999
Second impression 2001 3 Towards an Anthology of City Images
Oxford India Paperbacks 2004 4 Food for Thought: Towards an Anthology of
Third ilnpression 2006
Hindu Food-images
Line illustration based on traditional South Indian kolan~ 5 Language and Social Change: The Tamil Example
by Ruknliili Krishnamurti
6 Some Thoughts on 'Non-Western' Classics:
All rights reserved. No part of this publication inay be reproduced.
With Indian Examples
or transmitted in any forill or by any means, electronic or mechanical.
including photocopying, recording or by any infornlation storage and
11. Essays on Classical Literatures
retrieval system, without permission in writing from Oxford University Press.
Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be INTRODUCTBIYO VNI NAYD HARWADKER
sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above
7 Three Hundred Ratnayanas: Five Examples and
You must not circulate this book ill any other binding or cover Three Thoughts on Translation
and you must impose this sanle condition on any acquirer 8 Repetition in the Mahlihharatu
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-566896-4 9 Classics Lost and Found
ISBN-10: 0-19-566896-0 10 Form in Classical Tamil Poetry
Typeset ill Garalllond by Gun1 Typograph Technology, New Delhi 110 045 I I On Translating a Tamil Poem
Printed in India by Saurabh Printers Pvt. Ltd.. Noida, UP 12 From Classicism to Bhukti (with Norman Cutler)
Published by Manzar Khan, Oxford University Press
YMCA Library Building, Jai Sing11 Road, New Delhi 110 001
vi / Thf Collected Es.says ofA.K. Ramanu;cln
111. Essays on Bhakti and Modern Poetry
General Editor's Preface
INTRODUCTBIOY NJO HNB . CARMAN
13 On Women Saints
14 Men, Women, and Saints
15 The Myths of Bhakti: Images of ~ i vian
~aivPao etry
16 Why an Allama Poem Is Not a Riddle:
An Anthological Essay
17 Varieties of Bhakti
18 On Bharati and His Prose Poems
N. Essays on Folklore In the last three or four years of his life, A.K. Ramanujan made a series
INTRODUCTBIOY NST UARBLTA CKBUARNND ALAND UNDES of notes on the various essays on literature and culture that he had been
writing for about four decades. He had delivered most of the essays in
19 The Clay Mother-in-law: A South Indian Folktale
earlier forms as lectures to audiences in the United States, Europe, and
20 Some Folktales from India
India. He had also published early and late versions of many of them in
21 Hanchi: A Kannada Cinderella
scholarly journals and edited books since the 1950s. But some of them
22 The Indian Oedipus
were still no more than outlines for talks or incomplete working drafts
23 The Prince Who Married His Own Left Half
that needed substantial recasting and rewriting. The papers he left behind
24 A Flowering Tree: A Woman's Tale
at his death on 13 July 1993 suggest that he intended to complete some
25 Towards a Counter-system: Women's Tales
of the unfinished pieces, revise the finished ones that were in print or in
26 Telling Tales
typescript, and bring together about thirty-five of them in a thematic ar-
27 Tell It to the Walls: On Folktales in Indian Culture
rangement for a possible volume of collected essays.
28 Two Realms of Kannada Folklore
Late in 1993, Molly Daniels-Ramanujan invited a number of Rama-
29 On Folk Mythologies and Folk Pursnas
nujan's colleagues, collaborators and friends to complete what he had
30 Who Needs Folklore?
contemplated. The present volume is a result of that collaboration, and
Notes and References comes as close as possible to the design he had revealed posthumously
Chronology of Select Books and Essays in his fragmentary notes. Wendy Doniger reviewed the material for Sec-
by A. K. Rarnanujun tion I, 'General Ess;~yso n Literature and Culture', wrote a short introduc-
tion to it, and recommended other pieces for inclusion in the book. John
Contributors
Carman wrote an introduction to the essays on Ohakti in Section 111,
Copyright Statement 'Essays on Bhctkti andModern Poetry', while Stuart Blackburn and Alan
Dundes selected. re-arranged and introduced the contents of Section IV,
Index
'Es~aysonFolklore'M. ilton Singer, working independently, and Edward
Dimock and Krishna Ramanujan, working together, produced two differ-
ent accounts of Raman~1jan.sc areer hat serve as a composite introduc-
tion to his writing and as tributes to his memory. As the general editor of
the book, 1 coordinated the work of.t hese colleagues, assembled all the
essays, prepared the editorial mutter, revised the notes and references for
vi / Thf Collected Es.says ofA.K. Ramanu;cln
111. Essays on Bhakti and Modern Poetry
General Editor's Preface
INTRODUCTBIOY NJO HNB . CARMAN
13 On Women Saints
14 Men, Women, and Saints
15 The Myths of Bhakti: Images of ~ i vian
~aivPao etry
16 Why an Allama Poem Is Not a Riddle:
An Anthological Essay
17 Varieties of Bhakti
18 On Bharati and His Prose Poems
N. Essays on Folklore In the last three or four years of his life, A.K. Ramanujan made a series
INTRODUCTBIOY NST UARBLTA CKBUARNND ALAND UNDES of notes on the various essays on literature and culture that he had been
writing for about four decades. He had delivered most of the essays in
19 The Clay Mother-in-law: A South Indian Folktale
earlier forms as lectures to audiences in the United States, Europe, and
20 Some Folktales from India
India. He had also published early and late versions of many of them in
21 Hanchi: A Kannada Cinderella
scholarly journals and edited books since the 1950s. But some of them
22 The Indian Oedipus
were still no more than outlines for talks or incomplete working drafts
23 The Prince Who Married His Own Left Half
that needed substantial recasting and rewriting. The papers he left behind
24 A Flowering Tree: A Woman's Tale
at his death on 13 July 1993 suggest that he intended to complete some
25 Towards a Counter-system: Women's Tales
of the unfinished pieces, revise the finished ones that were in print or in
26 Telling Tales
typescript, and bring together about thirty-five of them in a thematic ar-
27 Tell It to the Walls: On Folktales in Indian Culture
rangement for a possible volume of collected essays.
28 Two Realms of Kannada Folklore
Late in 1993, Molly Daniels-Ramanujan invited a number of Rama-
29 On Folk Mythologies and Folk Pursnas
nujan's colleagues, collaborators and friends to complete what he had
30 Who Needs Folklore?
contemplated. The present volume is a result of that collaboration, and
Notes and References comes as close as possible to the design he had revealed posthumously
Chronology of Select Books and Essays in his fragmentary notes. Wendy Doniger reviewed the material for Sec-
by A. K. Rarnanujun tion I, 'General Ess;~yso n Literature and Culture', wrote a short introduc-
tion to it, and recommended other pieces for inclusion in the book. John
Contributors
Carman wrote an introduction to the essays on Ohakti in Section 111,
Copyright Statement 'Essays on Bhctkti andModern Poetry', while Stuart Blackburn and Alan
Dundes selected. re-arranged and introduced the contents of Section IV,
Index
'Es~aysonFolklore'M. ilton Singer, working independently, and Edward
Dimock and Krishna Ramanujan, working together, produced two differ-
ent accounts of Raman~1jan.sc areer hat serve as a composite introduc-
tion to his writing and as tributes to his memory. As the general editor of
the book, 1 coordinated the work of.t hese colleagues, assembled all the
essays, prepared the editorial mutter, revised the notes and references for
viii I 7'170 C'ollcc.ic~rEl s.srr~~o.sf' i4.K. Ktrrntrr~ujtrrl (;c>r~enEild itor's Prcqcice I ix
unifor~n~of: ~st yle, and also provided the introduction to Section 11, Repetition and variation were persisten1 Ceatures of Ramanujan's
'Essays 011 Classical Literatures'. style as a thinker, teacher, poet, and essayist. He embraced strong ideas
This volume now contains thirty essays altogether, six each on gene-
passionately and held on to them for great lengths of time (until he could
ra] aspects of Indian literature and culture. classical literatures, and the
replace them with other powerful ideas),e ven as he constantly sought out
literatures of the hlzukti movement and the modern period, and twelve on new concepts, new locations, new insights. When he found an intellec-
the study of Indian folklore. It excludes the essays that are already fam- tuaI position that sustained all his interests-such as Anglo-American
ous as part of Ramanujan's books in print: the Afterwords to T11eI ntc~rior New Criticism in the 1950s, French structuralism, Russian formalism
Landscape ( 1967) U.R. Anantha Murthy 's Sumskuru ( 1976). Hyn~nfso r and German critical theory in the 1960s and 1970s, and some aspects of
the Drowning (1 98 1 ), and Poems cfLove and Wcrr. ( 1985), and the Intro- French deconstruction and American and Indian feminism in the
ductions to Spmking of ~ i v(n19 73) and Folktcrlesf rom Indirr ( 1992).T he 1980s-he used it as vigorously and comprehensively as possible to elu-
volume also excludes the lecture-texts and interview-transcripts that are
cidate many different texts, genres, and themes. Whenever he discover-
forthcoming in The Uncollected Poetq orld Prose. and the drafts and out-
ed the shortcomings of a particular method or perspective (as he did with
lines of several lectures and essays on topics in Indian linguistics that are
the structuralist logic of binary oppositions in the early 1980s, for exam-
too technical to be of interest to general readers. This edition of his Col- ple), he approached his material all over again with a new understanding
lected Essuys thus brings together all the finished scholarly pieces that of their values and meanings. But just as he rarely adopted others' theo-
Ramanujan left behind in typescript or in print, that are not available in ries and principles without important modifications of his own, he rarely
his other book-length works, and that he had contemplated including in repeated himself without ringing changes, or producing significant
such a volume. variations, on what he had thought and said earIier. His explications of
Of the essays that have appeared in print earlier, we have reproduced Indian literature and culture thus were always in motion, constantly
the last published versions, incorporating all the further changes that energising familiar patterns with unexpected new alignments and re-
Ramanujan had marked-in keeping with a lifelong habit-on his file-
arrangements.
copies of the publications. In the case of the four essays that were not The combination of movement and recurrence that gives a critical
published in his lifetime, we have closely followed the last typescript ver-
edge to the essays in this volume is linked closely to the multidisciplinary
sions in his files, silently correcting obvious typographical errors. For the and interdisciplinary dimensions of Ramanujan's scholarship. He ap-
essays that contain notes and references. we have modified the styles of proached his topic, no matter what it was, with instruments of analysis
annotation and citation used in our copy-texts for consistency, and have
from several different disciplines, and the arguments he developed could
consolidated all the notes and references at the end of this volume for the
not be reduced to the standard arguments in any one of them. His expli-
reader's convenience. As the general editor, I have added clear1 y desig-
cations of poems, for example, drew as much on the protocols of formal-
nated notes in brackets. identifying the copy-texts of the essays and com- ist literary criticism as on the contextual concerns of ethnography,
menting briefly, when necessary, on their textual 'evolution'. Ramanujan history, and folklore studies, while his explanations of social codes de-
often published an essay many years after he had first drafted or deliver- pended equally on social theory, linguistics, poetics, and comparative
ed it as a lecture, and since the complex sequence in which these pieces cultural studies. He negotiated the difficult terrain of multiple, intersect-
were written, revised and first published affects our response to them and ing, and sometimes potentially conflicting disciplines by traversing a
to him now, I have constructed a general chronology of his books and helix-like path through them, circling around a central axis but never re-
essays at the end of this volume:My observations in the chronology may turning to exactly the same position.
help us decipher how Ramanujan's mind revolved around certain themes Ramanujan moved effortlessly through different disciplines and dif-
over a long period of time, how ~t moved from one set of interests or ferent types of material (poems, stories, forms, conventions, religions,
switched from one angle of vision to another, and how it circled back to histories, cultures) by fashioning a distinctive scholarly style. He de-
olderconcernsafterthinkingt hrouglicr-uc~anl iattersof methodand Inter- signed and wrote his essays so that they would work upon his readers
pretation in the light of his mol-e Irecent tliscoveries. as much by allusion, echo, and suggestion, as by the force of explicit
viii I 7'170 C'ollcc.ic~rEl s.srr~~o.sf' i4.K. Ktrrntrr~ujtrrl (;c>r~enEild itor's Prcqcice I ix
unifor~n~of: ~st yle, and also provided the introduction to Section 11, Repetition and variation were persisten1 Ceatures of Ramanujan's
'Essays 011 Classical Literatures'. style as a thinker, teacher, poet, and essayist. He embraced strong ideas
This volume now contains thirty essays altogether, six each on gene-
passionately and held on to them for great lengths of time (until he could
ra] aspects of Indian literature and culture. classical literatures, and the
replace them with other powerful ideas),e ven as he constantly sought out
literatures of the hlzukti movement and the modern period, and twelve on new concepts, new locations, new insights. When he found an intellec-
the study of Indian folklore. It excludes the essays that are already fam- tuaI position that sustained all his interests-such as Anglo-American
ous as part of Ramanujan's books in print: the Afterwords to T11eI ntc~rior New Criticism in the 1950s, French structuralism, Russian formalism
Landscape ( 1967) U.R. Anantha Murthy 's Sumskuru ( 1976). Hyn~nfso r and German critical theory in the 1960s and 1970s, and some aspects of
the Drowning (1 98 1 ), and Poems cfLove and Wcrr. ( 1985), and the Intro- French deconstruction and American and Indian feminism in the
ductions to Spmking of ~ i v(n19 73) and Folktcrlesf rom Indirr ( 1992).T he 1980s-he used it as vigorously and comprehensively as possible to elu-
volume also excludes the lecture-texts and interview-transcripts that are
cidate many different texts, genres, and themes. Whenever he discover-
forthcoming in The Uncollected Poetq orld Prose. and the drafts and out-
ed the shortcomings of a particular method or perspective (as he did with
lines of several lectures and essays on topics in Indian linguistics that are
the structuralist logic of binary oppositions in the early 1980s, for exam-
too technical to be of interest to general readers. This edition of his Col- ple), he approached his material all over again with a new understanding
lected Essuys thus brings together all the finished scholarly pieces that of their values and meanings. But just as he rarely adopted others' theo-
Ramanujan left behind in typescript or in print, that are not available in ries and principles without important modifications of his own, he rarely
his other book-length works, and that he had contemplated including in repeated himself without ringing changes, or producing significant
such a volume. variations, on what he had thought and said earIier. His explications of
Of the essays that have appeared in print earlier, we have reproduced Indian literature and culture thus were always in motion, constantly
the last published versions, incorporating all the further changes that energising familiar patterns with unexpected new alignments and re-
Ramanujan had marked-in keeping with a lifelong habit-on his file-
arrangements.
copies of the publications. In the case of the four essays that were not The combination of movement and recurrence that gives a critical
published in his lifetime, we have closely followed the last typescript ver-
edge to the essays in this volume is linked closely to the multidisciplinary
sions in his files, silently correcting obvious typographical errors. For the and interdisciplinary dimensions of Ramanujan's scholarship. He ap-
essays that contain notes and references. we have modified the styles of proached his topic, no matter what it was, with instruments of analysis
annotation and citation used in our copy-texts for consistency, and have
from several different disciplines, and the arguments he developed could
consolidated all the notes and references at the end of this volume for the
not be reduced to the standard arguments in any one of them. His expli-
reader's convenience. As the general editor, I have added clear1 y desig-
cations of poems, for example, drew as much on the protocols of formal-
nated notes in brackets. identifying the copy-texts of the essays and com- ist literary criticism as on the contextual concerns of ethnography,
menting briefly, when necessary, on their textual 'evolution'. Ramanujan history, and folklore studies, while his explanations of social codes de-
often published an essay many years after he had first drafted or deliver- pended equally on social theory, linguistics, poetics, and comparative
ed it as a lecture, and since the complex sequence in which these pieces cultural studies. He negotiated the difficult terrain of multiple, intersect-
were written, revised and first published affects our response to them and ing, and sometimes potentially conflicting disciplines by traversing a
to him now, I have constructed a general chronology of his books and helix-like path through them, circling around a central axis but never re-
essays at the end of this volume:My observations in the chronology may turning to exactly the same position.
help us decipher how Ramanujan's mind revolved around certain themes Ramanujan moved effortlessly through different disciplines and dif-
over a long period of time, how ~t moved from one set of interests or ferent types of material (poems, stories, forms, conventions, religions,
switched from one angle of vision to another, and how it circled back to histories, cultures) by fashioning a distinctive scholarly style. He de-
olderconcernsafterthinkingt hrouglicr-uc~anl iattersof methodand Inter- signed and wrote his essays so that they would work upon his readers
pretation in the light of his mol-e Irecent tliscoveries. as much by allusion, echo, and suggestion, as by the force of explicit
x I The ('ollrc.tpd Es.str~,so f A.K. Ktrt?itinl!icrn
argument. While each piece was structured simply. so that it never stray- Sorrow that our senior-most colleague, M~ltonS inger, passed away at his
ed far from its stated theme. it was alsosurrounded by a field of multiple home in Chicago on 4 December 1994, shortly after revising his tribute
resonances, leading the reader outward in several directions at once. to Ramanujan for this volume.
This 'ripple efrect' was a function of Ramanujan's poetic sty le as a writer
I would like to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to the editors and pub-
ofcritical prose. in which wit, irony, humour and polyphony enabled him
lishers who granted permission to reprint many of these essays; to the
to condense several perspectives or insights into a few aphoristic phra-
University of Oklahoma and its Department of English for their research
ses. Itwas also the result of his pursuit of obliqueness or indirection-the
support; and to Michelle Stie for her diligence and enthusiasm as my
classical Sanskrit device orvakrokti, 'crooked speech'-under the mask
research assistant in 1994-95. Molly Daniels-Ramanujan and I owe
of lightness and simplicity. Ramanujan, in fact, constructed an essay
many thanks to James Nye, South Asia Bibliographer, and William Als-
much like a poem, which shows more than it tells, suggests more than it
paugh, both at the Regenstein Library, University of Chicago, for their
reveals, and echoes more than it acknowledges.
invaluable bibliographicaland archival help. Our thanks also to Anuradha
Ramanujan succeeded in combining direct topicalisation with indirect
Roy and Rukun Advani at Oxford University Press, Delhi, for their tact
articulation because he thought and wrote intertextually. His essays are
and patience throughout, their close attention to detail and their skilful
full of explicit and implicit quotations, and many of them reproduce large
overall management of not only this project but also the other books to
portions of other texts, often whole poems and even entire stories. In
which it is related: The OxfordAnthologv ofModern Indian Poetry (19 94),
this proliferation of quoted material, Ramanujan's own commentary
which Ico-edited with Ramanujan; Ramanujan's CollectedPoems(l995);
frequently takes a back seat, running like a tour-guide's voice in the back-
and his forthcoming Uncollected Poetry and Prose.
ground, while the objects he discusses keep us fascinated in the fore-
ground. This sort of apparently self-effacing critical intertextuality was Norman, Oklahoma
central to his scholarly practice because he believed that literary and September 1998
cultural texts can 'speak for themselves', and speak especially effective-
ly when they are unfamiliar or have been cunningly 'defamiliarised'. For
him, the ideal critical essay was the one proposed by Walter Benjamin,
where a scholar-critic ought to hide behind 'a phalanx of quotations
which, like highwaymen, would ambush the passing reader and rob him
of hisconvictions.' Particularly in thesecond half of his career, Ramanujan
constructed an essay as an 'anthology of quotations', a phrase that also
echoes Jacques Derrida's notion of a text as a 'tissue of citations'. Any
one of the later critical pieces he wrote was therefore likely to be an
'anthological essay'. the text of which emerged out of a series of pre-
texts. meta-texts, counter-texts, and inter-texts interacting variously
with each other.
This book would not have been possible without Molly Daniels-
Ramanujan's generosity and patience, and without the promptness and
care with which Stuart Blackburn, John Carman, Edward Dimock,
Wendy Doniger, Alan Dundes. Krishna Ramanujan. and Milton Singer
contributed their expertise at short notice. We regret that Girish Karnad
could not join LIS because of the distances that still separate the United
Statesand India: and that V. Narayana Rao and David Shulman were un-
.~bleto add their special skills to this editorial efl'ort. We record wlth deep