Harvard University
Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies
Outreach Lecture

Spring 2007
Languages and Literature of India
Lecture V

"Nepali Language and the Literature"
Dr. Tara Nath Sharma
Visiting Professor,
Michigan State University,
East Lansing, MI.

Abstract:
Nepali is one of the official languages in India and is the spoken language in
Nepal and Sikkim.  It belongs to the Indo-European family of languages and is directly descended from Sanskrit with various Prakrit terms used to integrate a large number of tribes at the Himalayan foothills.  Though various inscriptions and manuscripts are discovered dating to the thirteenth century, the practical development of the language occurred when the small kingdoms were unified in the eighteenth century. Both prose and poetry literature are well developed. Nepali Ramayana of Bhanu Bhakta Acharya sets the Ramyana story in native lustre and is popular among the masses. A folk meter called Jhyaure is sung by peasants and shepherds extensively.  Compositions in ghazal style and blank-verse meters, and socially realistic themes in short stories and plays constitute the modern Nepali literature.

Speaker's Bio:
Tara Nath Sharma, is an icon of modern Nepali literature.  Popularly known by his short name Tanasarma, he is one of the most widely read and loved writers of Nepal. His 102 books in Nepali and English include a critical history of Nepali literature, collections of personal essays and travel accounts,
theoretical and practical literary criticism, and essays on linguistic, social and cultural themes. He has edited journals, periodicals and a National English Daily (The Rising Nepal).   He is known for his impressive and stimulating lectures on Nepali social system, culture, ethnicity, religion and literature. He is reputed for his honest, fearless and penetrating expositions of truth as well as for his profound faith in democracy, human rights and human dignity.

Saturday, April 14, 2007, 3:00 PM
Hall A, Harvard University Science Center
1 Oxford Street, Cambridge

Contact telephones: 617-864-5121, 617-495-3295
URL: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~sanskrit/outreach.html

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