In Literature and the Other Arts, Jadavpur University’s Department of Comparative Literature brings together a compelling collection of essays that interrogate the ideological, aesthetic, and spatial intersections of literature with the broader cultural and artistic landscape. This volume challenges conventional boundaries, exploring the ways in which literature converses with other artistic forms and socio-political discourses across time and geography.

The essays in this collection examine diverse subjects such as Roman Jakobson’s linguistic theories applied to the Rāmāyaṇa, the literary and artistic exchanges between Munshi Premchand and Munidatta Bairan, and a critical re-evaluation of the aesthetic philosophies of Gauriā Nṛtya. Through these varied lenses, the volume underscores the fluidity of artistic expression and how literature continually shapes—and is shaped by—its interactions with history, performance, philosophy, and cultural praxis.

Traversing a vast intellectual terrain, the scholars featured in this book—including Pinaki Das, Christel Devadawson, Sagar Tandan, and Nisha Mane—grapple with themes of borderlands, liminality, and hybrid artistic expressions, analyzing both the dissociations and harmonies that arise when literature encounters other forms of creative endeavor. The editors, Professors Debaprasad Bandyopadhyay, Baishali Halder, and Samantak Das, bring forth a collection that challenges monolithic narratives and instead embraces multi-disciplinarity—situating literature within a larger framework of comparative literary and artistic studies.

This volume is not just an academic inquiry but a testament to the intellectual legacy of the late Prof. Samantak Das, to whom the book is dedicated. His pioneering work in comparative literature, interdisciplinary scholarship, and cultural studies forms the foundation upon which these essays are built.

An essential read for students, scholars, and enthusiasts of comparative literature, aesthetics, and interdisciplinary humanities, Literature and the Other Arts offers fresh perspectives on the dynamic, ever-evolving relationship between text and artistic expression. It is an invitation to rethink the boundaries of literature and embrace the interwoven narratives of cultural production across various mediums.