Epistemology And Linguistics : Bhartrhari, Structuralism and Poststructuralism

The book focuses on the comparative understanding of the formation of meaning in a textual strucutre with special reference to Indian as well as Western traditions of knowledge, whre finally, arriving at a resolution, the affinity between the two is emphasised. In this book, Bhartrhari, whose Vakyapadiya is conceded to be the foundational text for evolution of philosophy of grammar/meaning as a branch of study, is considered with the founding father of structuralism, Ferdinand de Saussure, and the successive theorists: Jacques Derrida, and jacques lacan, the two key exponents of poststructuralism. Bhartrhari holds a very significant place in paninian school of Indian grammatical tradition as he invests the central notions of the school with the feature of universal applicability by propounding his philosophical propositions. The book extensively discusses how the structuralist and poststrucutralist notions prefigured in bhartrharian postulations propounded in the Vakyapadiya. this book scrutinises many seminal texts and concepts of both the traditions to explicate the contemporary relevance of Bhartrharian ideas in the field of language studies. Further, the book provides ample evidence and analysis supporting the claim that Bhartrhari long ago introduced a 'proto-structuralism' that informed the core of Saussure's work in the cours de linguistique generale.

About the Author(s)

DR. PRABHA SHANKAR DWIVEDI is an Assistant professor of english at Indian institute of Technology, Tirupati, Anadhra Pradesh, India. Previously, he was teaching at the Dept. of english, DHSG Central university, Sagar, madhya Pradesh. Dr. dwivedi has done considerable research in the area of comparative linguistics and literary theory. In addition, he has published various articles on Indian poetics, comparative literature, gender studies, and culture and religion.