Girls for Sale: Kanyasulkam: A Play from Colonial India

First staged in 1892, the South Indian play Girls for Sale (Kanyasulkam) is considered the greatest modern work of Telugu literature and the first major drama written in an Indian language that critiqued British colonialism's effects on Indian society. Filled with humor, biting social commentary, parody, and masquerade, the plot revolves around a clever courtesan, a young widow, and a very old man who wants to buy as his wife a very young girl. Velcheru Narayana Rao has prepared the first idiomatic English translation, with notes and a critical essay. Itself a masterpiece of Indian literature in translation, this edition makes Apparao's work available to new audiences.

Author: Gurajada Apparao, Velcheru Narayana Rao
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 07/20/2007
Pages: 248
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.84lbs
Size: 9.22h x 6.34w x 0.67d
ISBN: 9780253219138

About the Author

Gurajada Apparao (1862-1915) is regarded as the father of modern Telugu literature.

Velcheru Narayana Rao is Krishnadevaraya Professor of Languages and Cultures of Asia at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.