TY - BOOK AU - Ollett,Andrew ED - Project Muse. TI - Language of the Snakes : : Prakrit, Sanskrit, and the Language Order of Premodern India / T2 - South Asia across the disciplines SN - 9780520968813 PY - 2017///] CY - Oakland, California PB - University of California Press KW - Sanskrit literature KW - fast KW - Prakrit literature KW - Prakrit languages KW - Language and culture KW - HISTORY KW - Asia KW - General KW - bisacsh KW - Regional and national history KW - bicssc KW - Humanities KW - History KW - Asian history KW - Langage et culture KW - Inde KW - Litterature sanscrite KW - Histoire et critique KW - Prâkrits (Langues) KW - Litterature prâkrit KW - India KW - History and criticism KW - Criticism, interpretation, etc KW - Electronic books. KW - local N1 - Prakrit in the language order of India -- Inventing Prakrit: the languages of power -- Inventing Prakrit: the languages of literature -- The forms of Prakrit literature -- Figuring Prakrit -- Knowing Prakrit -- Forgetting Prakrit; Open Access N2 - "Language of the Snakes traces the history of the Prakrit language as a literary phenomenon, starting from its cultivation in courts of the Deccan in the first few centuries of the common era. Although little studied today, Prakrit was an important vector of the 'kavya movement,' and once joined Sanskrit at the apex of classical Indian literary culture. The opposition--as well as underlying identity--between Prakrit and Sanskrit was at the center of an enduring 'language order' in India, a set of ways of thinking about, naming, classifying, representing, and ultimately using languages. As a language of classical literature that nevertheless retained its associations with more demotic language practices, Prakrit both embodies major cultural tensions--between high and low, transregional and regional, cosmopolitan and vernacular--and provides a unique perspective onto the history of literature and culture in South Asia."--Provided by publisher UR - https://muse.jhu.edu/book/63432/ ER -