The Plays of Kalidasa: Theatre of Memory

Review(s)

In this fine volume Miller and her co-translators David Gitomer and Edwin Gerow have succeeded not only in evoking for us the contexts and spirit of Kalidasa’s dramatic art but also in providing Indologists and the general public with excellent, contemporary translations of all three plays of the eminent sanskrit poet………the editor and co-translators deserve congratulations and gratitude for their achievement in providing us with Kalidasa translations that are enjoyable as well as accurate and convey in great measure the power and beauty of the works in the original. – Journal of Asian Studies

“These translations, excitingly imaginative in themselves… also take the drama out of the closet, opening up an indispensable window on the theatrical conventions of Kalidasa’s world…It is perhaps the best introduction to classical Sanskrit drama now available.” – Asiaweek

“The beauty of the excellent translations is that they do reveal the stylistic differences between each of the plays and they do bring out the artificiality which so distinguishes Kavya from other genres of Sanskrit literature. This volume is highly recommended….” – Journal of Developing Societies

Barbara Stoler Miller was Professor of Oriental Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University. She was the author of several books published by Columbia University press, including Love Song of the Dark Lord and The Hermit and the Love-Thief.

Edwin Gerow is Frank L. Sulzberger Professor in the College and Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Chicago. His published works include A Glossary of Indian Figures of Speech, Indian Poetics, and numerous articles on Sanskrit literature.

David Gitomer is Instructor in the Department of Middle East Languages and Cultures at Columbia University

About the Author(s)

Barbara Stoler Miller was Professor of Oriental Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University. She was a student of the late Professor W. Norman Brown. She had travelled widely throughout the Indian subcontinent and lived here to study Sanskrit and Indian music and art. Dr. Miller’s other published works include The Hermit and the Love-Thief: Sanskrit Poems of Bhartrihari and Bilhana and Theater of Memory: The Plays of Kalidasa. She had also edited Exploring India’s Sacred Art: Selected Writings of Stella Karmrisch published by Motilal Banarsidass.