Drgambhrni- The Syntax and Semiotics of Sculpture & Indian Theories

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About the Book Language, being a culture specific phenomenon, will have to be studied in the cultural context and the same is true about the visual language of a certain civilization, despite the avowed universal nature of it. The non-verbal languages transcend the orbits of a single culture but they too cannot escape the culture specificity. The Indian sculptural expression, that is why would betray its secrets and its lingual intricacies if investigated in the light of Indian linguistic theories.

The master sculptors of India have explored various possibilities to build up meaningful expressions, using their understanding of language, though not linguistics. They coin their morphemes, their syntactic tools and successfully impart the meaning and sentiments of the narrative, without the formal understanding of grammar and linguistics. The 'reader' of this text too may not need the formal knowledge of the grammar to read and decipher the meaning. As observed by Noam Chomsky we are born with basics already present in our brains.. However, a systematic study of this linguistic interaction is certainly warranted and this is an effort to investigate into its rationale.

About the Author Deepak Kannal is a sculptor, Art Historian, Dramatist and a passionate teacher. His contribution in each of these areas is marked by a number of awards, distinctions, scholarships and fellowships on state, national and international level. He has graced several prestigious chairs and position's in esteemed universities and institutions all over the country while shouldering the responsibilities as the Head of Art History and Aesthetics department and the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University of Baroda.

He is a revered teacher and is known for his multidisciplinary approach in teaching and an unorthodox composite methodology in his research. His books, monographs, research papers, articles and also his plays evince his atypical perspective. The present compendium, which is an outcome of his research under the Tagore National fellowship would also reflect it.

Foreword Art historians such as Ananda Coomaraswamy and C. Sivaramamurti, during the first half and the second half of 20th century, had quite diligently delved in detail into Sanskrit literature for relevant and insightful references to the arts of Indian painting and sculpture as distinct from the rich material dealing with theories of language, literary criticism and the Rasa theory. On the latter aspects, the Sanskritist specialists have written quite in-depth treatises such as the concepts of Anandavardhana, Abhinavagupta and Mammata. Some distinguished Indian Sanskritists have attempted to relook at the rich linguistic and literary critical and theoretical discussions from Sanskrit sources in the context of theorization by the modern western linguistics related intellectuals, some of whom have been referred to by Deepak Kannal such as Roland Barthes, Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida.

Preface Art historians such as Ananda Coomaraswamy and C. Sivaramamurti, during the first half and the second half of 20th century, had quite diligently delved in detail into Sanskrit literature for relevant and insightful references to the arts of Indian painting and sculpture as distinct from the rich material dealing with theories of language, literary criticism and the Rasa theory. On the latter aspects, the Sanskritist specialists have written quite in-depth treatises such as the concepts of Anandavardhana, Abhinavagupta and Mammata. Some distinguished Indian Sanskritists have attempted to relook at the rich linguistic and literary critical and theoretical discussions from Sanskrit sources in the context of theorization by the modern western linguistics related intellectuals, some of whom have been referred to by Deepak Kannal such as Roland Barthes, Martin Heidegger and Jacques Derrida.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages