Kuntaka
Encyclopedia
Kuntaka was a Kashmiri Sanskrit poetician and literary theorist who is remembered for his work Vakroktijivita in which he postulates the theory of Vakrotkti or figuratve expression, which he considers as the hallmark of all creative literature. He lived roughly 950–1050, between Anandavardhana
in the ninth century and Abhinavagupta
in the tenth century and was a rough contemporary of Dhananjaya and Rajasekhara
.
endows poetic language with strikingness[Vaicitrya] and causes aesthetic delight to the reader. It is manifested at six levels in language, viz. the phonetic level, [varnavinyasa], the lexical level [padapurvardha], the grammatical level [pratyaya], the sentential level [vakya], the contextual level [prakarana] and finally the compositional level [prabandha]. Kuntaka anticipates much of the modern stylistic approach to literature and his stylistics
encompasses imaginative language at the micro and macro levels. Ther conscious choices made by the poet in the language is a fertile field of investigation in his approach. It is the considered view of Kuntaka that poetic language always deviates from hackeneyed expressions by its imaginative turns. Kuntaka avers that the stamp of originality of a great author will be present even in the title of the work of art.
Anandavardhana
Anandavardhana was the author of Dhvanyaloka, a work articulating the philosophy of "aesthetic suggestion". The philosopher Abhinavagupta wrote an important commentary on it.Anandavardhana is credited with creating the dhvani theory...
in the ninth century and Abhinavagupta
Abhinavagupta
Abhinavagupta was one of India's greatest philosophers, mystics and aestheticians. He was also considered an important musician, poet, dramatist, exegete, theologian, and logician - a polymathic personality who exercised strong influences on Indian culture.He was born in the Valley of Kashmir in...
in the tenth century and was a rough contemporary of Dhananjaya and Rajasekhara
Rajasekhara
Rajashekhara was an eminent Sanskrit poet, dramatist and critic. He was court poet of the Gurjara Pratiharas.He wrote Kavyamimamsa between 880 and 920 CE. The work is essentially a practical guide for poets that explains the elements and composition of a good poem. The fame of Rajashekhara...
.
His theory
Vakrokti, emanating from the creative faculty of the poetPoet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
endows poetic language with strikingness[Vaicitrya] and causes aesthetic delight to the reader. It is manifested at six levels in language, viz. the phonetic level, [varnavinyasa], the lexical level [padapurvardha], the grammatical level [pratyaya], the sentential level [vakya], the contextual level [prakarana] and finally the compositional level [prabandha]. Kuntaka anticipates much of the modern stylistic approach to literature and his stylistics
Stylistics
Stylistics might apply to:* The Stylistics, a Philadelphia soul group* Stylistics , the study of language and its context...
encompasses imaginative language at the micro and macro levels. Ther conscious choices made by the poet in the language is a fertile field of investigation in his approach. It is the considered view of Kuntaka that poetic language always deviates from hackeneyed expressions by its imaginative turns. Kuntaka avers that the stamp of originality of a great author will be present even in the title of the work of art.
External links
- Kuntaka's Vakroktijivika with Kuntaka's own commentary at GRETILGRETILThe Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages is a comprehensive repository of e-texts in Sanskrit and other Indian languages.It contains several texts related to Indology, such as philosophical texts...
- Kuntaka's Vakroktijivika with Kuntaka's own commentary (Sanskrit text in Devanagari)