Elements of Rasa in Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject South Asian Studies South-Eastern Asian Studies National University of Singapore (Asian Research Institute) language: English abstract: Rasa (flavor sentiments aesthetic delight flavor of mood taste feeling ) is the principle which encompasses the entire body of Indian literature. Although other literary theories such as Dhvani (suggestion implication) Alankara (figure of speech) are also important terms of Indian aesthetics and poetics these theories either originated in Rasa or appear in conjunction with it. Rasa is typical of both Indian poetics and Eastern poetics. As one type of Eastern poetics Rasa can be used to enrich Vietnamese poetics and literary theory which now is mainly preoccupied with Western viewpoints. In addition Indian culture has had significant influence on Vietnamese culture as a result Buddhism is present in all of Vietnam and Hinduism in Cham and Khmer areas .