Girls for Sale: Kanyasulkam, a Play from Colonial India

by Gurajada Apparao, Velcheru Narayana Rao

Overview

First staged in 1892, the South Indian play Girls for Sale (Kanyasulkam) is considered the greatest modern work of Telugu literature and the first major drama written in an Indian language that critiqued British colonialism's effects on Indian society. Filled with humor, biting social commentary, parody, and masquerade, the plot revolves around a clever courtesan, a young widow, and a very old man who wants to buy as his wife a very young girl. Velcheru Narayana Rao has prepared the first idiomatic English translation, with notes and a critical essay. Itself a masterpiece of Indian literature in translation, this edition makes Apparao's work available to new audiences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253219138
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	07/20/2007
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Gurajada Apparao (1862-1915) is regarded as the father of modern Telugu literature.

Velcheru Narayana Rao is Krishnadevaraya Professor of Languages and Cultures of Asia at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction
A Note on Translation and Transliteration

Girls for Sale
Dramatis Personae

1. Act One

2. Act Two

3. Act Three

4. Act Four

5. Act Five

6. Act Six

7. Act Seven

The Play in Context: A Second Look at Apparao's Kanyasulkam
Performing Kanyasulkam
Glossary
Guide to Pronunciation
Proper Names with Diacritics
Note on Names and Castes
On Kinship and Friendship
Card Game in Act Five, Scene Two
Notes
Index

What People are Saying About This

"[A] scholarly event of the first importance. . . . This translation is a work of artand I predict that it will, on its own terms, become a classic."

David Shulman

"[A] scholarly event of the first importance. . . . This translation is a work of art, and I predict that it will, on its own terms, become a classic."--(David Shulman, Hebrew University)

Hebrew University David Shulman

[A] scholarly event of the first importance. . . . This translation is a work of artand I predict that it will, on its own terms, become a classic.

Editorial Reviews

"[A] scholarly event of the first importance. . . . This translation is a work of artand I predict that it will, on its own terms, become a classic."—David Shulman, Hebrew University

From the Publisher

"[A] scholarly event of the first importance.... This translation is a work of artand I predict that it will, on its own terms, become a classic." —David Shulman, Hebrew University

Hebrew University David Shulman

This adorable and elegant translation comes closest to revealing the carnivalesque heart of this Telugu, nay, Indian, masterwork of alternative modernity.

The Hindu