Loose talk among former students of Pollock led to a two-day conference at Columbia in February 2008, the papers from which form the backbone of this anthology. Scholars of South Asian history and culture, language and literature, and religion question and criticize aspects of his work--an approach he has always invited--while recognizing his overall contribution. The 16 papers cover the Ramayana/. and its readers, Kavya: Sanskrit literary culture in history, the vernacular and the cosmopolitan, Sastra: Sanskrit systems of knowledge in and outside history, and early modernity. Annotation 2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
