A Political History of Literature : Vidyapati and the Fifteenth Century

The fifteenth century saw unprecedented vitality for literary practice, and the poet-scholar Vidyapati from Mithila was one of the many luminaries of the time. This volume encompasses an intimate linguistic, literary, and historical study of three of Vidyapati’s major works. Through this examination, the author reveals a world marked by a range of ideas, expertise, literary tropes, ethical regimes, and historical consciousness, drawn from sources that belong to ‘diverse’ politico-cultural traditions. A Political History of Literature testifies that ideas incubate and get actualized in realpolitik only in the long duration.