91黑料网

Debanjan Das (91黑料网)

The K膩masutra, widely perceived as a 鈥渂ook of love鈥� or a 鈥渟ex manual鈥� composed in Sanskrit around the third century CE, remains one of the most famous and recognisable Indian/Sanskrit texts across the world. The text was first translated into English and popularised in the West, by Sir Richard Francis Burton and Colonel F.F. Arbuthnot in 1883, as Aphorisms on Love. The text was available in limited circulation under the auspices of the fictitious Kama Shastra Society. Though it was not 鈥榣egally鈥� published in the US and Great Britain till 1962, Burton鈥檚 The K膩masutra of Vatsyayana remained the most authoritative English translation of the text. This talk examines how Burton鈥檚 translation of this relatively obscure text (in its original form) and understanding of the text completely transforms this characterisation of the text rooted in a very specific context of c. fourth century CE meant for the urban, upper-class male, to a universalistic, timeless, scientific text on understanding gender and sexuality in India within academic circles, and merely erotic literature in popular culture.

This talk will discuss Burton鈥檚 鈥渄iscovery鈥� and translation of the K膩masutra in the late nineteenth century and situate its role in the making of an enduring intellectual tradition about ancient Indian sexuality within a broader globalised discourse on sexual knowledge that emerged at that time. It considers a temporal scope between the late nineteenth century, when the texts were first translated by Burton and his associates, and the late twentieth century, which saw the official publication of that translation. Between these two critical moments, the K膩masutra became popularly entrenched (at least in Western perceptions) as an authoritative repository of knowledge on ancient Indian sexuality, while also cementing Burton鈥檚 role as an authority as a 鈥渟exologist鈥� in the late nineteenth century.

Light refreshments served.