These south Indian devotional poems show the dramatic use of erotic language to express a religious vision. Written by men during the 15th to 18th centuries, the poems adopt a female voice, the voice of a courtesan addressing her customer. That customer, it turns out, is the deity, whom the courtesan teases for his infidelities and cajoles into paying her more money. Brazen, autonomous, fully at home in her body, she merges her worldly knowledge with the deity's transcendent power in the act of making love. This volume is the first substantial collection in English of these Telugu writings, which are still part of the standard repertoire of songs used by classical south Indian dancers. A foreword provides context for the poems, investigating their religious, cultural and historical significance. Explored, too, are the attempts to contain their explicit eroticism by various apologetic and rationalizing devices.
- ISBN10 0520080688
- ISBN13 9780520080683
- Publish Date 15 April 1994
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 24 October 2000
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University of California Press
- Edition New edition
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 158
- Language English