Co-texts and Counter-texts

The Family of Mahabharata Texts in Kannada

Abstract

Using the theoretical framework suggested by A. K. Ramanujan for the study of cultural traditions in India, this paper attempts to present an anthology of ideas and examples to explore the precise nature of the cultural dialogue the various ‘interpretations’ (as it derives from the Latin interpretation, meaning not only the action of expounding, explaining but also a translation, a rendering) of Mahabharata in Kannada are engaged in from the ninth century to the present. The paper also proposes to develop “kathantara”, an expression used by the 14^th Century Kannada poet Kumaravyasa, into an explanatory concept. The expression is open to several meanings such as 'from one story to another’, ‘within a story’, ‘between two stories’ and so on. ‘Kathantara’ is an empty space. The paper argues that it is what occupies the space of ‘Kathantara’ that either foregrounds or decentralizes a set of values in the text and thus produces a web of intertextuality