A Political History of Literature

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pankaj Jha
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Political History ◽  
Entry Point ◽  
Political Ethics ◽  
Actionable Knowledge ◽  
Political Biography ◽  
Political Traditions ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Literature ◽  
The Ideal

Vidyapati was a poet and a scholar who lived in the fifteenth century north Bihar and composed nearly a dozen texts on varied themes in three languages. The book focuses on three of Vidyapati’s texts: Likhanāvalī, a Sanskrit treatise on writing letters and documents; Puruṣaparīkṣā, a Sanskrit compilation of mytho-historical stories focused on masculinity and political ethics; and Kīrtilatā, a political biography in Apabhraṃśa of a prince of Mithila composed in the ākhyāyikā style. Together, these compositions provide an exciting entry point into the knowledge formations of the fifteenth century. As such, the book marks a fascinating reading of politics in the literatures of a time that is known for a notorious absence of any ‘imperial’ formation. It does so by placing each of the three texts side by side with other texts composed earlier on identical or similar themes, genres, and ideas in the same and other languages. A critical historicization of the language, composition, and contents of the texts reveal an exciting and messy world of idioms, ideas, and skills drawn from different literary-political traditions. Strikingly, each upheld the ideal of imperium and provided for the cultivation of skills, ethics, and useable pasts appropriate for imperial projects. The book argues that the literary visions that sustained (and gained from) the imperial states in the earlier centuries did not disappear with the disintegration of the Delhi Sultanate. They lingered and found hospitable grounds in humbler locations. Vidyapati inherited and reworked these visions into newer, more ‘actionable’ knowledge forms.

Book review: Pankaj Jha, A Political History of Literature: Vidyapati and the Fifteenth Century

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-429
Author(s):  
Francesca Orsini
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Political History ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Literature ◽  
Oxford University Press

Pankaj Jha, A Political History of Literature: Vidyapati and the Fifteenth Century, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2019, 272 pp.

Book review: Pankaj Jha, Political History of Literature: Vidyapati and the Fifteenth Century

2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-353
Author(s):  
Dhrub Kumar Singh
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Political History ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Literature ◽  
Oxford University Press

Pankaj Jha, Political History of Literature: Vidyapati and the Fifteenth Century, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2019, 304 pp., ₹1,095, ISBN: 9780199489558.

Book review: Pankaj Jha, A Political History of Literature: Vidyapati and the Fifteenth Century

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 408-413
Author(s):  
Tyler Williams
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Political History ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Literature ◽  
Oxford University Press

Pankaj Jha, A Political History of Literature: Vidyapati and the Fifteenth Century. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 304. ISBN: 9780199489558.

scholarly journals Mahbub Djunaidi, Seniman Politik Nahdlatul Ulama (1960-1987)

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-174
Author(s):  
Farhan Nugraha ◽  
Muhammad Fakhruddin ◽  
Humaidi Humaidi
Keyword(s):  
Political History ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Democracy ◽  
Source Criticism ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
Organizational Experiences ◽  
Political Activist ◽  
History Of ◽  
Nahdlatul Ulama ◽  
The Ideal

Abstrak: Nahdlatul Ulama merupakan salah satu organisasi Islam terbesar di Indonesia. Organisasi ini lahir tentu dari para tokoh-tokoh besar yang menggawanginya, salah satunya Mahbud Djunaidi. Kemampuan politiknya diperoleh dari berbagai pengalaman organisasi dan kemampuan dalam kepenulisan. Adapun permasalahan yang diangkat dalam penelitian ini yaitu bagaimana riwayat politik Mahbub Djunaidi sebagai aktivis politik Nahdlatul Ulama pada tahun 1960-1987. Berdasarkan permasalahan tersebut penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguraikan perjalanan politik Mahbub Djunaidi (1960-1987). Berdasarkan permasalahan dan tujuan penelitian tersebut, maka metode yang digunakan adalah metode historis yang terdiri dari tahap heuristik, kritik sumber, interpretasi dan historiografi. Hasil dari penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Mahbub Djunaidi memiliki konsep khittah plus. Demokrasi politik ala Mahbub Djunaidi adalah cita-cita demokrasi yang diperjuangkan melalui garis politik.Kata Kunci: Mahbub Djunaidi, Demokrasi Politik, Nahdlatul Ulama.Abstract: Nahdlatul Ulama is one of the largest Islamic organizations in Indonesia. This organization was born of course from the big figures who oversee it, one of them Mahbud Djunaidi. His political abilities are obtained from various organizational experiences and abilities in writing. The problem raised in this research is how the political history of Mahbub Djunaidi as a political activist of Nahdlatul Ulama in 1960-1987. Based on these problems, this study aims to describe the political journey of Mahbub Djunaidi (1960-1987). Based on the problems and objectives of the research, the method used is the historical method which consists of heuristics, source criticism, interpretation and historiography stages. The results of the study show that Mahbub Djunaidi has the concept of khittah plus. Political democracy in the style of Mahbub Djunaidi is the ideal of democracy which is fought for through political lines. Keywords: Mahbub Djunaidi, Political Democracy, Nahdlatul Ulama.

Conclusions

2020 ◽  
pp. 249-252
Author(s):  
Marta Celati
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Political Theories ◽  
History Of ◽  
Humanist Tradition ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Ideal

The final section sums up the main innovative findings of this whole study. It points out how starting from the second half of the fifteenth century the development of a ‘thematic genre’ of literature on conspiracies was influenced by, but at the same time contributed to, the phenomenon of the literary fashioning of the profile of the ideal ruler, who now corresponded to the figure of a princeps. This literature also contributed to the creation of a new language and symbology of power through the multifunctional reworking of the classical legacy. This evolution culminated in Machiavelli’s attention to the issue of political plots in this work, with an approach that proves to be partly inspired by the previous cultural horizon, but already prominently projected towards an utterly new conceptual world. This analysis, besides providing a missing chapter on the background of Machiavelli’s work, more generally, underlines the significant contribution made by the humanist tradition, through its various literary expressions, to the development of modern political theories and to the history of our culture.

Nicholas of Modruš and HisDe Bellis Gothorum: Politics and National History in the Fifteenth-Century Adriatic

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 457-491
Author(s):  
Luka Špoljarić
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Political History ◽  
The Political ◽  
National History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Proper Context

This article analyzes the “De Bellis Gothorum,” a long neglected and misunderstood history of the ancient Goths written in 1472–73 by Nicholas of Modruš, the leading Croatian-Illyrian bishop at the papal curia. By placing the work in its proper context, this article reconstructs a previously unknown episode in the political history of the fifteenth-century Adriatic. It is argued that the “De Bellis Gothorum” was in fact a national history that was meant to provide a trans-Adriatic network of Croatian and Bosnian nobles and churchmen with support from Naples and the papacy for their border wars against the Ottomans and reestablishment of their national kingdom.

V. L. Ianin and the History of Novgorod

Slavic Review ◽  
1974 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-123
Author(s):  
Lawrence N. Langer
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Urban Society ◽  
Russian History ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
Political Traditions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Methodological Problems ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Town

An historian of early Russian history faces many methodological problems, not the least of which is the paucity of sources for the Kievan and Mongol periods. Because of the dearth of material, historians of the medieval Russian town, such as M. N. Tikhomirov and A. M. Sakharov, have generally presented a static conceptualization of urban society, thereby obscuring the dynamic processes and nuances of historical development. Despite the many studies of Novgorod, one can fairly state that historians have often described fourteenth and fifteenth-century Novgorod as though it were virtually unchanged since 1136, when the town declared its independence from Kiev. While recognizing the importance of the Sovet gospod (Council of Lords) and posadnik (mayor), some historians have nevertheless insisted that the veche (assembly) was the sovereign body of the republic. Its meetings were open to the town's citizens, and though the veche at times degenerated into brawls, no prince or posadnik could effectively govern without its concurrence. Indeed, George Vernadsky characterized Novgorod as a democratic republic, somewhat reminiscent of the Greek polis, while Tikhomirov viewed Novgorod's political traditions as similar to those of the urban communes of medieval Europe.

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