Indology in Russian

[Dr Y. Vassilkov]

Dear Phillip,
     there is a vast indological literature in Russian and some very
important books which wait for their translation in Western languages. Such
as, e.g. Pavel Grintser's classic
"Ancient Indian Epics: Genesis and Typology" (Drevneindijskij epos: genezis
i tipologiya. Moscow, 1974) which is refered to in any modern book on the
subject, but unfortunately is known to Western and Indian scholars due only
to its summary in the reviews by Prof. J.W.de Jong. Some works by T.Ya
Yelizarenkova (Elisarenkova; on Vedic texts and culture) or A.M.Dubiansky
(on Classical Tamil poetry) have appeared recently in English, but the
desiderata still remains so great... There are works by Julia Alikhanova and
Vladimir Ehrmann on Sanskrit theory of poetry and drama, Nikita Gurov's
papers on Aryan-Dravidian lingvistic and cultural interaction, books by
Svetlana Neveleva on the MahAbhArata and many, many others... Merely by
reviewing some works by Russian scholars you could make serious contribution
to the World Indology. That old principle of Western savants: "Rossica non
leguntur" - is to be discarded, the sooner the better. Of course, if Russian
scholars want to attract attention to their works they should better write
in English, but not all of them are able to do so...
    If you can tell me what particular branch of Indology has special
interest for you, I could give you information about literature in Russian
available on this subject.
    Wishing you success,
                                                  Yaroslav Vassilkov
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phillip Ernest" <phillip.ernest at UTORONTO.CA>
To: <INDOLOGY at LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK>
Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2000 3:40 PM
Subject: Indology in Russian


> Dear List:
>
> Is there a large body of writing on Indology in Russian?  I am attracted
> to Russian for other reasons, and wonder whether it would make sense to
> learn it as the required European language for graduate work in Indology.
>
> Pip