Of Many Heroes: An Indian Essay In Literary Historiography

Of Many Heroes is a companion volume to the Sahitya Akademi award winning title, After Amnesia: Tradition and Change in Indian Literary Criticism. Of Many Heroes explores literary history in India over the past two thousand years. It examines various historiographical statements issued in ancient, medieval and modern India. It also analyses the impact that colonising India had on literary historiography in Britain. A brief account of some major twentieth-century theories of literary history in the West is presented in this volume, in juxtaposition with an account of historiographical approaches to literature in contemporary India. The volume also studies theoretical questions related to para-literature, literary translation and oral traditions, and argues for their inclusion in literary canons described by literary history.

Written almost nineteen year ago, this book is being re-issued with a short introduction. The volume remains as relevant today as it was at the time it was first published. It will be an indispensible guide for students and scholars of Indian literature.