An edition of Foucault and the Kamasutra (2016)
Foucault and the Kamasutra
the courtesan, the dandy, and the birth of ars erotica as theater in India
By Sanjay K. Gautam
Publish Date
2016
Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Language
eng
Pages
282
Description:
The 'Kamasutra' is best known in the West for its scandalous celebration of unbridled sensuality. Yet, there is much, much more to it; embedded in the text is a vision of the city founded on art and aesthetic pleasure. Sanjay K. Gautam lays out the nature and origin of this iconic Indian text and engages in a serious reading of its relationship with Foucault. Gautam shows how closely intertwined the history of erotics in Indian culture is with the history of theater-aesthetics grounded in the discourse of love, and Foucault provides the framework for opening up an intellectual horizon of Indian thought.
subjects: Courtesans in literature, History and criticism, Theater, Philosophy, Influence, Sex, Indic Erotic literature, Indic Aesthetics, Pleasure, Dandies in literature, History, Erotic literature, history and criticism, Aesthetics, indic, Foucault, michel, 1926-1984, Kāmasūtra (Vātsyāyana), Nāṭyaśāstra (Bharata Muni)
People: Vātsyāyana, Bharata Muni, Michel Foucault (1926-1984)
Places: India