Description
Book SynopsisThis is a translation of a historically important Bengali novel. Published in 1882, Chatterji''s Anandamath helped create the atmosphere and the symbolism for the nationalist movement leading to Indian independence in 1947. It contain the famous hymn Vande Mataram (I revere the Mother), which has become India''s official National Song. Set in Bengal at the time of the famine of 1770, the novel reflect tensions and oppositions within Indian culture between Hindus and Muslims, ruler and ruled, indigenous people and foreign overlords, jungle and town, Aryan and non-Aryan, celibacy and sexuality. It is both a political and a religious work. By recreating the past of Bengal, Chatterji hoped to create a new present that involved a new interpretation of the past. Julius Lipner not only provides the first complete and satisfactory English translation of this important work, but supplies an extensive Introduction contextualizing the novel and its cultural and political history. Also included ar
Trade ReviewHis translation is competent, and his introduction and critical apparatus informative, objective and unpedantic. Not only is he an impressive scholar, he draws effectively on Bengali artistic, linguistic and literary sources, as well as historical and political sources. * Times Higher Education Supplement *
