In Praise Of Death: History And Poetry In Medieval Marwar
by Janet Kamphorst /
2008 / English / PDF
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This study documents the historical and religious meaning of battle death in the desert regions of India and Pakistan. It offers new insights into the religious symbolism underlying martial ideals and identity politics with an analysis of heroic and epic genres and the literary-historical processes that lead to the deification of warrior-heroes in South Asia. By describing the different degrees of narrative importance that poets attached to battle-death, the author suggests new ways of interpreting the region's warlike past.
