67058 - Sanskrit Language 2 B

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, the student will complete his/her mid-level competence in the Sanskrit language; he/she will be able to study the relevant literature and the problems related to it, referring to the most updated bibliography.

Course contents

For attending students, the course programme consists of reading, translating and commenting on Sanskrit texts from different literary genres, authors and periods, but all sharing a sense of humour in the broadest sense. Following this common thread, we will study excerpts from works by “classical” authors (Kālidāsa and others) and lesser-known authors (Kṣemendra, pseudo-Kālidāsa, etc.), before focusing, in the second part of the course, on the works of Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita (17th century).

This course aims to consolidate and advance the level of learning achieved in Sanskrit 2A. The texts considered in this course are of intermediate or advanced difficulty. 

 

Course synopsis

• Prologue. The power attributed to laughter in Sanskrit literature.

Readings from the Varāhapūraṇa and the Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa.

• The theoretical framework. Definition of the key terms of this course: comedy, humorism, satire. Comedy in Indian aesthetic theory.

Readings from the Naṭyaśāstra (Bharata, [1st-5th century?]) and the Abhinavabhāratī (Abhinavagupta, 10th-11th century).

• Humour in Sanskrit literature. Different types of humour in works belonging to different literary genres: epic poetry (sargabandha or mahākāvya), anthologies of verses, theatrical texts.

Readings from passages taken from Kumārasambhava (Kālidāsa, 5th century), Kumārasambhava Uttarakhaṇḍa (author unknown), Subhāṣitaratnakoṣa (Vidyākara, 11th-12th centuries), Madhurāvijaya ([Gaṅgādevī, 14th century?]), Vikramorvaśīya (Kālidāsa, 5th century).

• Satire in Sanskrit literature. Satire in Sanskrit literature and theatre.

Reading of a passage from Kalāvilāsa (Kṣemendra, 11th century). The monographic part of the course is dedicated to reading a wide selection of stanzas from Kaliviḍambana by Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita (17th century).

 

Non-attending students must contact the lecturer to agree on a list of texts to work on, which may differ from that provided for attending students.

Readings/Bibliography

For attending students: in order to take the exam, you must carefully study the texts that will be read in class. Almost all of these texts will be made available in digital format via Virtuale.

For the Kaliviḍambana of Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita, reference will be made to the following translation, with Sanskrit text alongside:

• Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita, Stanzas by Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita: Scorn for the Age of Strife, A Century of Verse to Delight the Court, The Charms of Inner Peace. Translated by Alex Passi. Milano: Unicopli, 2026.

For the examination, you must also study:

• De, S. K., "Wit, Humour and Satire in Ancient Indian Literature”, Our Heritage, Vol. III, Part II, July-December 1955: 157-180. (available on Virtuale)
  

• Siegel, Lee, Laughing Matters. Comic tradition in India. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass 1989(1987), Chapters 1 and 2, pp. 1-93. (owned by the Giorgio Renato Franci Library [IND. 1603] and available in digital format at archive.org).

The following reference and consultation texts are recommended (all texts are owned by the G. R. Franci library):

• Della Casa, C., Corso di sanscrito, Milano, Unicopli, 2021.

• Monier-Williams, M., A Sanskrit-English Dictionary.

• Speijer, J. S., Sanskrit syntax. Leiden 1886.

• Tubb, G. A., E. R. Boose, Scholastic Sanskrit: a handbook for students, New York: American Institute of Buddhist Studies, 2007.

• Boccali, G., S. Piano, S. Sani, Le letterature dell'India, Torino, UTET, 2000. 

 

Non-attending students must contact the lecturer to agree on the list of texts to be studied (which may differ from that for attending students), to receive the relevant critical bibliography for further reading, and to agree on the methods of collaboration, study, and exam preparation. The reference texts are the same as those indicated for attending students.

 

A note for all students. This course requires a good knowledge of Sanskrit grammar and the Devanagari script. Students who do nothave this knowledge are invited to review the content of the Sanskrit I course. Alternatively, an in-depth study of M. Coulson, Sanskrit: An Introduction to the Classical Language, Sevenoaks: Hodder and Stoughton, 1976 (various re-editions), including all exercises, is highly recommended.

Teaching methods

The course consists of lessons during which various texts from Sanskrit literature will be read, translated and discussed, with active participation from students.

The texts will be chosen to provide students with an overview of the different styles and genres of Sanskrit literature, with a focus on the commentary tradition.

Multimedia tools will be used during the lessons.

Attendance is not mandatory but is strongly recommended.

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

The exam is oral and normally lasts 30 to 60 minutes. It consists in the translation of excerpts from the texts and exercises read in the classroom (for attending students) or arranged with the lecturer (for non-attending students).

Grading is based primarily on student's linguistic preparation, but will also take into account the clarity of exposition, the ability to use an appropriate terminology, and the fluency with which one reads the Devanāgarī script.

Broadly speaking:

• The ability to identify without hesitation the grammatical forms met with in the texts and to describe them precisely, using an appropriate grammatical terminology, together with a fluent reading of the Devanāgarī script and a correct and elegant Italian translation, will be evaluated with excellent marks (28 to 30+).
• The ability to recognise a good part of the grammatical forms in the texts and to describe them through a decent grammatical terminology, together with an acceptable fluency in reading the Devanāgarī script and a correct Italian translation, will be evaluated with decent to average marks (24 to 27);
• A limited ability to identify the grammatical forms in the texts, a patchy knowledge of the grammatical rules, a laborious reading of the Devanāgarī script and an inadequate Italian translation, will lead to mere pass marks (18 to 23);
• The inability to identify a substantial part of the grammatical forms in the texts, to describe the relevant rules, to read the Devanāgarī script or to provide an Italian translation, will lead to exam failure.

Exam sessions are scheduled for the following months of the academic year: January, February, March, May, June, July, October, November.

IMPORTANT NOTE
This 6 CFU course can be chosen as a part of the 12 CFUs Integrated Course "SANSKRIT LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE II (C.I.) (LM)". If the student has included this Integrated Course (12 CFUs) in his study plan, the examination of the two courses making up the Integrated Course must be taken on a single date and the final mark will be the arithmetic mean of the marks obtained in the two components ("SANSKRIT LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE 2A" and "SANSKRIT LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE 2B").

Teaching tools

Through the Virtuale platform, students will have access to various materials: Sanskrit texts and commentaries, secondary literature of various kinds (research studies, sections of reference manuals, etc.), exercises and tests, PowerPoint presentations, IT material (software and fonts for writing Sanskrit texts on the computer, in transliteration and in Devanagari script).

Students with learning disorders and/or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact theoffice responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students) as soon aspossible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must besubmitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess theappropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Marco Franceschini