Love in South Asia: A Cultural History (Univers. Orsini<|

Love in South AsiaA Cultural History\nAuthor(s): Francesca Orsini\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9780521856782, 978-0521856782\nSynopsis\nLove may be a universal feeling, but culture and language play a crucial role in defining it. Idioms of love have a long history, and within every society there is always more than one discourse, be it prescriptive, religious, or gender-specific, available at any given time. This book explores the idioms of love that have developed in South Asia, those words, conceptual clusters, images and stories which have interlocked and grown into repertoires. Including essays by literary scholars, historians, anthropologists, film historians and political theorists, the collection unravels the interconnecting strands in the history of the concept (shringara, 'ishq, prem and 'love') and maps their significance in literary, oral and visual traditions. Each essay examines a .