I feel fortunate to present this treatise on Indian Stylistics at the ISDL, being a Senior Research Fellow there for two years. At the end of the first year I was allowed to leave the institution as I had got an appointment as Adjunct Professor at the Department of Kerala Studies. Kariavattom Campus. But somehow, I am happy that I could prepare and submit this monograph at the end of the second year itself and I owe my gratitude to my sincere friend Dr. Naduvattom Gopalakrishnan (Director, ISDL) because his persistent encouragement energized me.
I have much gratitude towards my wife Prof. C.S.Sreekumari for her intermittant loving accusation of not completing the project in time. Still unfortunately delayed due to Covid-19.
Thanks to all staff and my friends at ISDL for helping me.
There is inevitable similarity between the Indian poetics and western theories of stylistics. Indian rhetoric was the forerunner of Indian stylistics and it was developed through many schools such as Vakrokti and Dhvani. Though the Indian and Western approaches are different regarding stylistics, there are points of agreement in their function. In the light of the theories of Riti, Vakrokti and Dhvani an attempt is made to explain the evolution of Indian Stylistics in this monograph.
Desamangalam Ramakrishnan, a well known Poet in Malayalam worked in ISDL as a Senior Fellow during 2018-2019 academic year. As part of his project work he has prepared this monograph 'Indian Stylistics'. It contains five chapters viz., Stylistic Interpretation, Language of Poetry - According to Vamana, Language of Poetry - According to Kuntaka, Stylistics and Indian Poetics and Concepts of Foregrounding Effects. Through these chapters Desamangalam Ramakrishnan discusses the features and possibilities of the Indian Poetics and Western Stylistics. As part of this study, he traces the evolution of ancient Indian Poetics from Bharata, Bhamaha, Dandin Vamana and Kuntaka. In addition to it, he thoroughly explains the concept behind the basic doctrine 'ritiratmakavyasya' of Vamana and 'Vakroktijivitam of Kuntaka. Ramakrishnan's efforts to find out the Indian essence of eastern Poetics with Modern Stylistic concepts like foregrounding, unity and rhythm are convincing. He is of the opinion that the Indian schools had the tendency to stick on to the microcontexts of a text and so they could not do the Stylistic analysis at a microlevel.
However, this monograph on Indian stylistics helps to understand the language in a different and better way.
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