Stella Sandahl

Stella M. Sandahl (Ph.D., U. Paris, Sorbonne)
Associate Professor
Department of East Asian Studies

Office Phone: 416-978-4295
Office Location: Robarts Library #14330 (14th Floor)
E-mail: ssandahl@sympatico.ca, stella.sandahl@utoronto.ca
  As a traditionally trained European Indologist my interests are many and varied: literature, art, language, politics, social and cultural history of Classical, Medieval and Modern India. My interest in contemporary Indian is focussed on the Hindu-Muslim relations leading up to the Partition in 1947 and its still highly contentious consequences. When teaching Sanskrit and classical Hindi texts I try to highlight the close connection between literature and art in a largely visual culture.

Longstanding and current research interests:
Food in medieval India – a dictionary of Sanskrit culinary terms.
Body care in medieval India based on the Mānasollāsa.
Who divided India? – reflections on the Partition of British India.
   
  Academic Background:
Ph.D. Université de Paris Sorbonne (Indology).
M.A. Université de Paris Sorbonne (Etudes Indiennes and Linguistique Generale);
M.A. Stockholm University (Comparative Literature and Indology)
   
  Selected Major Publications:
  • "The Seven Oceans in the Purānas and elsewhere" (forthcoming).
  • A Hindī Reference Grammar (Leiden 2000).
  • "The Rtusamhāra. A new approach" (Rivista degli Studi Orientali no 75, Roma 2002). Solves the longstanding problem of its authorship, which will be further documented in a forthcoming monograph.
  • Review articles of the Princeton Rāmāyana translation project in Acta Orientalia (Copenhagen-Oslo) Volumes I-VI 1989- 2011.
  • "A Good Story Spoiled: Tulasīdāsa's rendering of the Vālmīki Rāmāyana" in Corolla Torontonensis (Toronto 1994).
  • Le Gītagovinda. Tradition et innovation dans le kāvya (Stockholm 1977). So far the only existing monograph of one of the most famous Sanskrit love poems.
   
  Courses Taught:
Upper level Sanskrit courses (both literary and non-literary texts)
Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit
Hinduism and Politics
The History and Politics of the Hindi Language