Sources of Publication; Preface and Acknowledgments; Sanjay Subrahmanyam: VNR-Some Introductory Remarks; I; II; III; Key Bibliographic Elements; Notes; 1 Multiple Literary Cultures in Telugu: Court, Temple, and Public; Linguistic and Geographical Boundaries of Telugu Literary Cultures; The First Poet and the Production of a Brahminical/Puranic Literary Culture; The Literary Culture of S?aivabhakti; Poetry for Pleasure: Ka?vya Culture; Court Poetry; Poetry in the Temple; Literature for the God-king in His Court-temple; Literature in Public Space: The Ca??u World The Question of Literary LanguageThe Politics of Translation; The Culture of Writing and the Propagation of Books; Notes; References; 2 Notes on Political Thought in Medieval and Early Modern South India; Introduction; Some Ur-Texts; Ni?ti and its Opponents during the Medieval Period; An Imperial Interlude: K???adevara?ya; Early Modern Variations; Ni?ti and Kara?am Culture; Conclusion; Notes; 3 Pura??a as Brahminic Ideology; The Five Distinguishing Marks; Pura??izing the Folk Tradition; Pura??a: What it is and What it is Not; The Author/Speaker of the Pura??as; Pura?n? and Orality What the Pura??as SayWhat the Pura??as do not Say; The Change in the Nature of the Pura??as; Notes; 4 Coconut and Honey: Sanskrit and Telugu in Medieval Andhra; The S?aiva Protest; Ma?rga and Des?i; Separation of Styles; The Late-Medieval Crystallization; Notes; References; 5 Multiple Lives of a Text: The Sumati S?atakamu in Colonial Andhra; From Ni?ti to Morals; A Telugu Book on Ni?ti; A Guide to Success; Probable Readership of the SS; S?ataka Genre; C.P. Brown and the SS; Features of Oral Transmission; The Metrics of Kandamu; Features of the PSS; Features of Literary Style; Popularity of the SS Critical Editions of the SS and Authorship of the SSBhi?mana vs. Badde?na; Conclusion; Notes; References; 6 When Does Si?ta Cease to be Si?ta: Notes Toward a Cultural Grammar of Indian Narratives; Si?ta? in Sundaraka???a; Problematics of Uttaraka???a; Si?ta? in Selected Non-Va?lmi?ki Versions; Si?ta? in the Twentieth Century; An Ecology of Indian Narratives; Notes; References; 7 A Ra?ma?ya?a of Their Own: Women's Oral Tradition in Telugu; Some Background; The Songs; The Structure of the Songs; Si?ta?yana; Non-Brahmin Songs; Conclusion; Notes 8 The Politics of Telugu Ramayanas: Colonialism, Print Culture, and Literary MovementsThe Ra?ma?ya?a Tradition and Va?lmi?ki; Bhakti-ization and Iconization of Ra?ma's Story; Change in the Status of Non-Brahmins; Modernity and its Respondents; Conclusion; Notes; 9 Epics and Ideologies: Six Telugu Folk Epics; The Epic Stories; Epic Communities; Sex-Role Reversals; Secondary Epic Formations; Deified Virgin and Chaste Wife; Conclusion; Notes; References; 10 Texture and Authority: Telugu Riddles and Enigmas; Po??upukatha; Other Riddle Forms; Literary Riddles; Riddles with Stories