Creative writers everywhere harness the sense of wonder to secure readers' attention, to spice the inevitable duller passages, to enhance the readability of their works; Sanskrit poets have made a prolific use of wonder to secure these and many more objectives with conspicuous success.
But, surprisingly, little work has been done on the aesthetics of wonder; the writers on Sanskrit poetics have had little to say about this most attractive sensation This work examines, in great depth, the excitants of the sense of wonder and the various purposes for which poets harness it and presents the concepts, for the first time in the history of Sanskrit aesthetics, embellished with delectable examples delectable examples drawn from the whole of Sanskrit literature. The crowning achievement of the author is the startlingly new discovery about the nature and the role played by wonder, which will revolutionize the existing concept of the sensation
. The most attractive and unusual feature of the book is the high readability achieved through a scintillating style of presentation distinguished by sparkling wit and homour. An epoch-making book which scholars and lay lovers of literature alike would love to read.
About The Author:A.V Subramanian (born1924) served as a Senior Officer of the Indian railways in the Personnel and the Accounts Departments and retired as Additional general Manager. The prime interest and guiding force of his life has been the pursuit of Sanskrit and Tamil literature, which he loves to read write and speak about. He has written over forty books, which have established him as a highly original writer commanding an unusually bright and interesting style of presentation. The more notable among his works are The Sanskrit plays on the Rama theme, the Unity of sentiment in Sanskrit plays, and the Innovative genius of Bhavabhuti, in Sanskrit aesthetics and A Fine Excess of Poetic Sentiment and focus on the Speaker in the field of Tamil aesthetics. He is now working on the Rasa theory in Sanskrit and expects to come out with some startingly new concepts on the fundamental groundwork of Sanskrit aesthetics.
As a speaker, he has toured USA, Canada and UK thrice, captivating his audiences by the depth of his conceptual range and the sparkle of his presentation. He has been invited to deliver endowment lectures by Indian Universities and scholarly bodies
Perface | v | ||
1. | WHAT WE KNOW OFWONDER TODAY | 1 | |
2. | THE EXCITANTS OF THE SENSE OF WONDER | 7 | |
2.1 | Supernatural Occurrences | 8 | |
2.2 | Surprise twists in the plot | 10 | |
2.3 | Unique, even perverse reactions ofcharacters | 12 | |
2.4 | excessive reaction to stimulus | 17 | |
2.5 | Extraordinary displays of personal qualities | 21 | |
2.6 | Exorbitant cliaims | 25 | |
2.7 | A new twist to an old concept | 29 | |
2.8 | An arrestingly different principle developed-radically different from popular concepts | 31 | |
2.9 | An unexpected sequel toa step taken | 38 | |
2.10 | A statement made in juxtaposition with another conveys a startlingly different meaning | 43 | |
2.11 | A perverse reversl of ethical standards | 47 | |
2.12 | presenting good and virtuous conduct as bad or ineffective | 50 | |
2.13 | Adisplay of audacity, a cheerful disregard ofpublic prejudices | 52 | |
2.14 | Mind-boggling, larger-than-life portraits | 54 | |
2.15 | Superimposing human foibles on birds and animals | 57 | |
2.16 | presentingsome sophisticated act requiring human skill, initiative and ingenuity ashaving beenperfomed by other than human agency | 59 | |
2.17 | Spurt of admiration for a character from another | 61 | |
2.18 | Use of a device or measure designed for a purpose for a starlingly different purpose | 65 | |
2.19 | Underplaying a thing of value tomakeanother appear more significant | 66 | |
2.20 | The neat but unexpected waya problem gets solved | 69 | |
2.21 | Instituting startingly unusual comparisons | 71 | |
2.22 | Stark contrasts too can occasion surprise | 74 | |
2.23 | Normal, intelligent people acting absurdly under theurge of overpowering emotions | 77 | |
2.24 | When psychology is harnesed in a unique way to achieve a desired end | 79 | 2.25 | The sudden realization that thecauseofall the trouble to which one is subject is oneself, no other | 81 |
2.26 | Accomplishing mighty things with very unpromising implements | 83 | |
2.27 | Things appear startlingly different when the angle of vision or point offocus changes | 85 | |
2.28 | Postulating surprising new causes for known phenomena of nature | 89 | |
2.29 | Striking gradation through which are fashioned new techniques with which to measure intangibles | 91 | |
2.30 | Registering consternation at one's own great misfortune or cupidity | 93 | |
2.31 | Clever sophistry, specious arguments, cunning reasoning | 96 | |
2.32 | Deriving a general principal from an all-too-inadequate number of cases and applying it universally with amusing results | 98 | |
2.33 | A quick and smart retort, paying the offender in the same coin; Clever saucy dialogue | 100 | |
2.34 | Relating, in startling manner, present experience of individuals to a tradition, a myth, a classical concept | 102 | |
2.35 | Neighbouring pastures greener, in some cases, startlingly so | 104 | |
2.36 | Unbelievable, inexcusable bungling evoking startled surprise | 105 | |
2.37 | In a world given over to diplomatic euphemism, a blunt piece of straight-talking, a bland mouthing of the brutal truth may cause surprise | 106 | |
2.38 | Confusion worse confounded | 108 | |
2.39 | Presenting a thing of significance in deprecatory terms | 110 | |
2.40 | Consciously saying the opposite to secure a better effect through surprise | 112 | |
2.41 | Bizarre fancies, grand delusions,singular self-deception | 114 | |
2.42 | Giving eloquent, unambiguous expressionto one's innermost thoughts without the aid of words | 115 | |
2.43 | Somthing happens that should not have happened andit is contemplated with disbelief, surprise and sorrow | 116 | |
2.44 | Raising a thing to a high level only to drop it to the ground, blowing up a thing to outsize to burst it to smithereens | 117 | |
2.45 | Adroit verbal tricks | 119 | |
2.46 | The same thing being different things to people in diverse situations | 121 | |
2.47 | Applying double standards | 122 | |
2.48 | Displayof accurate knowledge in a back-ground of widespread popular misconceptions | 123 | |
2.49 | Unique relationships, unusual bargains with God | 124 | |
2.50 | relative notions of time | 126 | |
2.51 | Getting badly trounced by the very thing that was expected to save | 127 | |
2.52 | One man's meat turns out to be another's poison, starlinglyin some cases | 128 | |
2.53 | The damming up of strong emotions and the bursting of the dam | 128 | |
2.54 | Drawing a conclusion from material which seemingly suggests the very oposite | 130 | |
2.55 | Steps taken against deeply held preferences fail, leading to joy unbounded | 131 | |
2.56 | Making much of a thing, unbridled exag-geration | 132 | |
2.57 | The surprising perseverence of a character in an illusion | 135 | |
2.58 | With vaulting ambition goes a frailty of heart, causing surprise twice over | 136 | |
2.59 | small factors used to create a smokescreen to conceal a significant fault | 137 | |
2.60 | people unknowwingly working at cross purposes with surprisingly hilarious consequences | 138 | |
2.61 | Startling mental state on waking up from illusions | 139 | |
2.62 | When road-blocks startlingly turn out to be stepping stones | 141 | |
2.63 | The simultaneous advocacy of two radically opposed concepts | 142 | |
2.64 | Cause operating at a point and effect apearing at another | 143 | |
2.65 | Cause judged as inadequate for the scale of the effect | 144 | |
2.66 | The discovery of complexities in things regarded as simple and straight-forward | 145 | |
2.67 | A comples medley of emotions,some running counter to other, rarely found subsisting in a single human breast together | 147 | |
2.68 | solid reliance on sandy foundations, on vague,shadowy insubstaitials | 148 | |
2.69 | What looked bad initially proves good and what looked good proves bad in the sequel, evoking surprise through misappraised values | 149 | |
2.70 | Where misunderstanding is mutual and total | 151 | |
2.71 | A thing paraded as something much bigger or better, causing surprise bythe clever presentation | 152 | |
2.72 | Pride expresed at things not regarded as worthy of it | 152 | |
2.71 | Excess is in such abundance, it can over-fulfil want, creating an excess wherever it operates | 155 | |
3 | THE LITERARY BENEFITS ACCURING FROM WONDER | 157 | |
3.1 | The essence of all creative art is a freshness, a strangeness which is the mother of surprise | 157 | |
3.2 | Wonder opens up the mind of the reader | 159 | |
3.3 | Wonder helps to secure attention | 159 | |
3.4 | Wonder makes for greater credibility, lubri-cating the transfer of experience | 162 | |
3.5 | Banal everyday objects and sequences acquire a new capacity to interest through surprise | 165 | |
3.6 | Surprise being dynamic activates aesthetic enjoyment | 168 | |
3.7 | Wonder help poet to effect change of direction in a natural andaesthetically acceptable fashion | 173 | |
3.8 | Wonder brightens the narrative, it lights up the dull patches | 178 | |
3.9 | Man, atavistically, accords the highest priority to surprise-evoking stimuli | 180 | |
3.10 | Certain elements of surprise born of audacity, perversity, iconoclasm can purvey vicarious delight | 181 | |
3.11 | Surprise, the prime constituent of Jagannatha's 'beyond-the-world' concept | 182 | |
3.12 | Surprise enables the portrayal of a fine excess of sentiment | 185 | |
3.13 | Surprise engenders puzzlement which challenges themind and engagesit, furnishing delight | 188 | |
3.14 | Surprise furnishes a magic attic for us to escape into from the troubled world we live in | 189 | |
4 | LIGHT FROM MODERN SCIENCE | 191 | |
4.1 | The two fresh thinkers | 191 | |
4.2 | Light from Neuro-psychology | 192 | |
4.3 | The concept of moderately discrepant stimuli | 193 | |
4.4 | The theory of Moderate Discrepancy | 194 | |
4.5 | The poets' problem | 196 | |
4.6 | Evils of over-evocation of wonder | 197 | |
4.7 | Wonder, nota sentiment | 198 | |
4.8 | Proving the phase difference between wonder and the sentiments | 200 | |
4.9 | A second example | 201 | |
4.10 | Wonder, basically different from the sentiments | 204 | |
Select Bibliography | 207 | ||
Index of Slokas | 209 | ||
Subject Index | 217 |
Creative writers everywhere harness the sense of wonder to secure readers' attention, to spice the inevitable duller passages, to enhance the readability of their works; Sanskrit poets have made a prolific use of wonder to secure these and many more objectives with conspicuous success.
But, surprisingly, little work has been done on the aesthetics of wonder; the writers on Sanskrit poetics have had little to say about this most attractive sensation This work examines, in great depth, the excitants of the sense of wonder and the various purposes for which poets harness it and presents the concepts, for the first time in the history of Sanskrit aesthetics, embellished with delectable examples delectable examples drawn from the whole of Sanskrit literature. The crowning achievement of the author is the startlingly new discovery about the nature and the role played by wonder, which will revolutionize the existing concept of the sensation
. The most attractive and unusual feature of the book is the high readability achieved through a scintillating style of presentation distinguished by sparkling wit and homour. An epoch-making book which scholars and lay lovers of literature alike would love to read.
About The Author:A.V Subramanian (born1924) served as a Senior Officer of the Indian railways in the Personnel and the Accounts Departments and retired as Additional general Manager. The prime interest and guiding force of his life has been the pursuit of Sanskrit and Tamil literature, which he loves to read write and speak about. He has written over forty books, which have established him as a highly original writer commanding an unusually bright and interesting style of presentation. The more notable among his works are The Sanskrit plays on the Rama theme, the Unity of sentiment in Sanskrit plays, and the Innovative genius of Bhavabhuti, in Sanskrit aesthetics and A Fine Excess of Poetic Sentiment and focus on the Speaker in the field of Tamil aesthetics. He is now working on the Rasa theory in Sanskrit and expects to come out with some startingly new concepts on the fundamental groundwork of Sanskrit aesthetics.
As a speaker, he has toured USA, Canada and UK thrice, captivating his audiences by the depth of his conceptual range and the sparkle of his presentation. He has been invited to deliver endowment lectures by Indian Universities and scholarly bodies
Perface | v | ||
1. | WHAT WE KNOW OFWONDER TODAY | 1 | |
2. | THE EXCITANTS OF THE SENSE OF WONDER | 7 | |
2.1 | Supernatural Occurrences | 8 | |
2.2 | Surprise twists in the plot | 10 | |
2.3 | Unique, even perverse reactions ofcharacters | 12 | |
2.4 | excessive reaction to stimulus | 17 | |
2.5 | Extraordinary displays of personal qualities | 21 | |
2.6 | Exorbitant cliaims | 25 | |
2.7 | A new twist to an old concept | 29 | |
2.8 | An arrestingly different principle developed-radically different from popular concepts | 31 | |
2.9 | An unexpected sequel toa step taken | 38 | |
2.10 | A statement made in juxtaposition with another conveys a startlingly different meaning | 43 | |
2.11 | A perverse reversl of ethical standards | 47 | |
2.12 | presenting good and virtuous conduct as bad or ineffective | 50 | |
2.13 | Adisplay of audacity, a cheerful disregard ofpublic prejudices | 52 | |
2.14 | Mind-boggling, larger-than-life portraits | 54 | |
2.15 | Superimposing human foibles on birds and animals | 57 | |
2.16 | presentingsome sophisticated act requiring human skill, initiative and ingenuity ashaving beenperfomed by other than human agency | 59 | |
2.17 | Spurt of admiration for a character from another | 61 | |
2.18 | Use of a device or measure designed for a purpose for a starlingly different purpose | 65 | |
2.19 | Underplaying a thing of value tomakeanother appear more significant | 66 | |
2.20 | The neat but unexpected waya problem gets solved | 69 | |
2.21 | Instituting startingly unusual comparisons | 71 | |
2.22 | Stark contrasts too can occasion surprise | 74 | |
2.23 | Normal, intelligent people acting absurdly under theurge of overpowering emotions | 77 | |
2.24 | When psychology is harnesed in a unique way to achieve a desired end | 79 | 2.25 | The sudden realization that thecauseofall the trouble to which one is subject is oneself, no other | 81 |
2.26 | Accomplishing mighty things with very unpromising implements | 83 | |
2.27 | Things appear startlingly different when the angle of vision or point offocus changes | 85 | |
2.28 | Postulating surprising new causes for known phenomena of nature | 89 | |
2.29 | Striking gradation through which are fashioned new techniques with which to measure intangibles | 91 | |
2.30 | Registering consternation at one's own great misfortune or cupidity | 93 | |
2.31 | Clever sophistry, specious arguments, cunning reasoning | 96 | |
2.32 | Deriving a general principal from an all-too-inadequate number of cases and applying it universally with amusing results | 98 | |
2.33 | A quick and smart retort, paying the offender in the same coin; Clever saucy dialogue | 100 | |
2.34 | Relating, in startling manner, present experience of individuals to a tradition, a myth, a classical concept | 102 | |
2.35 | Neighbouring pastures greener, in some cases, startlingly so | 104 | |
2.36 | Unbelievable, inexcusable bungling evoking startled surprise | 105 | |
2.37 | In a world given over to diplomatic euphemism, a blunt piece of straight-talking, a bland mouthing of the brutal truth may cause surprise | 106 | |
2.38 | Confusion worse confounded | 108 | |
2.39 | Presenting a thing of significance in deprecatory terms | 110 | |
2.40 | Consciously saying the opposite to secure a better effect through surprise | 112 | |
2.41 | Bizarre fancies, grand delusions,singular self-deception | 114 | |
2.42 | Giving eloquent, unambiguous expressionto one's innermost thoughts without the aid of words | 115 | |
2.43 | Somthing happens that should not have happened andit is contemplated with disbelief, surprise and sorrow | 116 | |
2.44 | Raising a thing to a high level only to drop it to the ground, blowing up a thing to outsize to burst it to smithereens | 117 | |
2.45 | Adroit verbal tricks | 119 | |
2.46 | The same thing being different things to people in diverse situations | 121 | |
2.47 | Applying double standards | 122 | |
2.48 | Displayof accurate knowledge in a back-ground of widespread popular misconceptions | 123 | |
2.49 | Unique relationships, unusual bargains with God | 124 | |
2.50 | relative notions of time | 126 | |
2.51 | Getting badly trounced by the very thing that was expected to save | 127 | |
2.52 | One man's meat turns out to be another's poison, starlinglyin some cases | 128 | |
2.53 | The damming up of strong emotions and the bursting of the dam | 128 | |
2.54 | Drawing a conclusion from material which seemingly suggests the very oposite | 130 | |
2.55 | Steps taken against deeply held preferences fail, leading to joy unbounded | 131 | |
2.56 | Making much of a thing, unbridled exag-geration | 132 | |
2.57 | The surprising perseverence of a character in an illusion | 135 | |
2.58 | With vaulting ambition goes a frailty of heart, causing surprise twice over | 136 | |
2.59 | small factors used to create a smokescreen to conceal a significant fault | 137 | |
2.60 | people unknowwingly working at cross purposes with surprisingly hilarious consequences | 138 | |
2.61 | Startling mental state on waking up from illusions | 139 | |
2.62 | When road-blocks startlingly turn out to be stepping stones | 141 | |
2.63 | The simultaneous advocacy of two radically opposed concepts | 142 | |
2.64 | Cause operating at a point and effect apearing at another | 143 | |
2.65 | Cause judged as inadequate for the scale of the effect | 144 | |
2.66 | The discovery of complexities in things regarded as simple and straight-forward | 145 | |
2.67 | A comples medley of emotions,some running counter to other, rarely found subsisting in a single human breast together | 147 | |
2.68 | solid reliance on sandy foundations, on vague,shadowy insubstaitials | 148 | |
2.69 | What looked bad initially proves good and what looked good proves bad in the sequel, evoking surprise through misappraised values | 149 | |
2.70 | Where misunderstanding is mutual and total | 151 | |
2.71 | A thing paraded as something much bigger or better, causing surprise bythe clever presentation | 152 | |
2.72 | Pride expresed at things not regarded as worthy of it | 152 | |
2.71 | Excess is in such abundance, it can over-fulfil want, creating an excess wherever it operates | 155 | |
3 | THE LITERARY BENEFITS ACCURING FROM WONDER | 157 | |
3.1 | The essence of all creative art is a freshness, a strangeness which is the mother of surprise | 157 | |
3.2 | Wonder opens up the mind of the reader | 159 | |
3.3 | Wonder helps to secure attention | 159 | |
3.4 | Wonder makes for greater credibility, lubri-cating the transfer of experience | 162 | |
3.5 | Banal everyday objects and sequences acquire a new capacity to interest through surprise | 165 | |
3.6 | Surprise being dynamic activates aesthetic enjoyment | 168 | |
3.7 | Wonder help poet to effect change of direction in a natural andaesthetically acceptable fashion | 173 | |
3.8 | Wonder brightens the narrative, it lights up the dull patches | 178 | |
3.9 | Man, atavistically, accords the highest priority to surprise-evoking stimuli | 180 | |
3.10 | Certain elements of surprise born of audacity, perversity, iconoclasm can purvey vicarious delight | 181 | |
3.11 | Surprise, the prime constituent of Jagannatha's 'beyond-the-world' concept | 182 | |
3.12 | Surprise enables the portrayal of a fine excess of sentiment | 185 | |
3.13 | Surprise engenders puzzlement which challenges themind and engagesit, furnishing delight | 188 | |
3.14 | Surprise furnishes a magic attic for us to escape into from the troubled world we live in | 189 | |
4 | LIGHT FROM MODERN SCIENCE | 191 | |
4.1 | The two fresh thinkers | 191 | |
4.2 | Light from Neuro-psychology | 192 | |
4.3 | The concept of moderately discrepant stimuli | 193 | |
4.4 | The theory of Moderate Discrepancy | 194 | |
4.5 | The poets' problem | 196 | |
4.6 | Evils of over-evocation of wonder | 197 | |
4.7 | Wonder, nota sentiment | 198 | |
4.8 | Proving the phase difference between wonder and the sentiments | 200 | |
4.9 | A second example | 201 | |
4.10 | Wonder, basically different from the sentiments | 204 | |
Select Bibliography | 207 | ||
Index of Slokas | 209 | ||
Subject Index | 217 |