Epic Nation

Know about the book -

Epic Nation is written by Pamela Lothspeich and published by Oxford University Press, USA. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 019569659X (ISBN 10) and 9780195696592 (ISBN 13).

Epic Nation explores in detail the appropriations and reimaginings of the Mahabharata as a text in the Pauranik genre which served several purposes in the late colonial period-they provided alternatives to colonial constructions of Indian history, they served as forms of protest and resistanceto colonial rule, and they provided an ideological support for the nationalist movement. Pamela Lothspeich discusses the ambiguous relationship between myth and history, the debates and controversies regarding the Hindi movement, as well as the complex issue of communalism in the construction of anidealized Hindu past. A wide range of writings have been covered-from the elite, 'canonical' writers such as Mahavirprasad Dvivedi, Maithilisharan Gupt, and Ramcharit Upadhyay, to the relatively underestimated playwright Badrinarayan Bhatt and the Parsi commercial theatre of Kathavacak. The Epiloguetraces the trends in Pauranik literature, in the post-1940 era, in relatively newer forms such as the short story and the novel, and also film and TV. With a glossary of literary terms, an appendix citing Hindi literature based on the Mahabharata (1866-2008), and detailed bibliography, Epic Nationwould be of interest to students and researchers of literature, history, and cultural studies, as well as general readers.