Digital Codex: Religion, Literary Culture and Technology in South Asia

This course seeks to understand Hindu visual and performative culture through one epic Sanskrit narrative, that of the Mahabharata. It begins with the history of the epic's production and circulation in South Asian communities and continues with an exploration of its constructions of faith and duty. The course moves onto a consideration of the Mahabharata's latest avatars, especially in visual culture (paintings, theatre, graphic art, film and television). Lastly, the course explores questions of cannon formation, literary genres and knowledge production in the digital age.