Publications
Publication details [#56548]
Royson, Annie Rachel. 2022. Texts, Traditions, and Sacredness: cultural translation in Kristapurāṇa. New York and New Delhi: Routledge. 190 pp. URL
Publication type
Monograph
Publication language
English
Keywords
Person as a subject
Title as subject
Main ISBN
9780367641580
Edition info
ISBN paperback: 9780367641580 ISBN hardback: 9780367641580 ISBN eBook: 9781003146544
Abstract
This book presents a critical reading of Kristapurāṇa, the first South Asian retelling of the Bible. In 1579, Thomas Stephens (1549–1619), a young Jesuit priest, arrived in Goa with the aim of preaching Christianity to the local subjects of the Portuguese colony. Kristapurāṇa (1616), a sweeping narrative with 10,962 verses, is his epic poetic retelling of the Christian Bible in the Marathi language. This fascinating text, which first appeared in Roman script, is also one of the earliest printed works in the subcontinent. Kristapurāṇa translated the entire biblical narrative into Marathi a century before Bible translation into South Asian languages began in earnest in Protestant missions. This book contributes to an understanding of translation as it was practiced in South Asia through its study of genre, landscapes, and cultural translation in Kristapurāṇa, while also retelling a history of sacred texts and biblical narratives in the region. It examines this understudied masterpiece of Christian writing from Goa in the early era of Catholic missions and examines themes such as the complexities of the colonial machinery, religious encounters, textual traditions, and multilingualism, providing insight into Portuguese Goa of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Source : Based on publisher information