%0 Journal Article
%T Against their Will: Sexual Assault and the Uttarak¨¡£¿£¿a
%A Sally J. Sutherland Goldman
%J Studies in History
%@ 0973-080X
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/0257643018772405
%X A close reading of the Uttarak¨¡£¿£¿a of V¨¡lm¨©ki¡¯s R¨¡m¨¡ya£¿a demonstrates that its author has composed a carefully and logically structured work, one that is haunted by themes of sexual transgression. Not only is the first half of the k¨¡£¿£¿a occupied with the history and genealogy of R¨¡va£¿a, who is no less than the sexual predator par excellence, but its latter half tells of R¨¡ma¡¯s seemingly heart-wrenching decision to banish S¨©t¨¡ based on rumours of her own supposed infidelity. Similar themes are reflected in a number of the k¨¡£¿£¿a¡¯s sub-stories¡ªboth those that are understood to be part of the main narrative and those that belong to the so-called ¡®pur¨¡£¿ic¡¯ narratives¡ªand highlight sexual aggression against women. This article examines a specific and unusual subset of such narratives that permeate the k¨¡£¿£¿a, those that deal with explicit rape, with an eye towards further understanding why, uniquely in this k¨¡£¿£¿a, such stories appear, and what lies behind their popularity and longevity
%K Ahaly¨¡
%K Araj¨¡
%K Rambh¨¡
%K rape
%K R¨¡va£¿a
%K sexual transgression
%K Vedavat¨©
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0257643018772405