140107 UE Meaning beyond Words: Figurative Language in South Asian Traditions (2017W)

Contents

Most linguistic expressions involve unspoken elements which are neither directly expressed nor literally understood. Indirect language is an essential feature of poetical and religious literature, and is a vital aspect in common-life expressions as well.

An example in poetry (Sattasaı̄ 2.75): A girl is planning a meeting with her lover, but there is a monk who regularly visits the woods of their rendezvous. To discourage him from doing so she tells him: “Go your rounds freely, gentle monk; / the little dog is gone. / Just today from the thickets by the Godā / came a fearsome lion and killed him (bhrama dhārmika viśrabdha sa śunako ’dya māritas tena / godāvarı̄nadı̄kulalatāgahanavāsinā dṛptasiṃhena // ). This is apparently an invitation, but it entails a prohibition.

An examples from religious scriptures (Bhagavadgītā 9.4–5): “All beings are in me, and I’m not in them. And beings are not in me. Behold my majestic yoga” (matsthāni sarvabhūtāni na cāhaṃ teṣv avasthitaḥ // na ca matsthāni bhūtāni paśya me yogam
aiśvaram // ). This statement is cryptic and paradoxical, since the literal meaning violates the law of non-contradiction. Therefore, either one accepts that the message of the statement is conveying the presence of a contradiction, or she has to assume secondary meanings entailed by the words ‘na’, ‘matsthāni’, or ‘bhūtāni’.

Examples in day-to-day language are statements such as ‘the sun has set’ (gato’stam arkaḥ) — which may be used by a mother, by a lover, by a thief, etc., with quite different implicatures — or ‘the village is on the Ganges’ (gaṅgāyāṃ ghoṣaḥ), — which must be re-encoded as ‘the village is on the bank of the Ganges’, since it is impossible for a village to literally be on the water of a river.

Preliminary queries

• Is there any verbal communication that does not entail any secondary meaning at all, i.e., a truly “literal” statement?
• What are the formal and practical differences between figurative expressions in common language and in poetry?
• What is the role of the context, or of the speaker’s and hearer’s intentions, (tātparya) in figurative language?

Activities and aims

In accordance to the students' proficiency, during this course we will analyze poetical, religious, and descriptive examples of indirect and figurative language, as well as the explanation of such examples from the variegated viewpoints of Vedic exegetes (Mīmāṃsakas), grammarians (Vaiyākaraṇas), logicians (Naiyāyikas), and aestheticians (Ālaṅkārikas). The students are expected to improve their competence in the following respects:
• Reading and interpretation skill of religious, poetical and philosophical Sanskrit passages.
• Knowledge of the history of key ideas related to figurative language.
• Broader understanding of the mutual influences among South Asian traditions and authors.
• Familiarity with the technical concepts of lakṣaṇāvṛtti, gauṇavṛtti, vyañjanāvṛtti, tātparya, as adopted in various śāstra-s and by various authors.
• An improved awareness in the active use of figurative language.