https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=The_Courtesans_ReplyThe Courtesans Reply - Revision history2026-08-25T22:08:37ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Courtesans_Reply&diff=113229&oldid=prev>Zackmann08: Adding image2018-10-09T17:11:37Z<p>Adding image</p>
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{{Infobox book<br />
| italic title = <!--(see above)--><br />
| name = The Courtesans Reply<br />
| image = The Courtesans Reply.jpg<br />
| image_size = <br />
| alt = <br />
| caption = <br />
| author = Shazea Quraishi<br />
| audio_read_by = <br />
| title_orig = <br />
| orig_lang_code = <br />
| title_working = <br />
| translator = <br />
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| country = <br />
| language = English<br />
| series = flap series<br />
| release_number = <br />
| subject = <br />
| genre = Poetry<br />
| set_in = <br />
| published = <br />
| publisher = [[flipped eye publishing | flipped eye]]<br />
| publisher2 = <br />
| pub_date = 2012<br />
| english_pub_date = <br />
| media_type = Print<br />
| pages = 34 pp<br />
| awards = <br />
| isbn = 978-1-905233-40-3<br />
| isbn_note = <br />
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| congress = <br />
| preceded_by = <br />
| followed_by = ''The Art of Scratching''<br />
| native_wikisource = <br />
| wikisource = <br />
| notes =<br />
| exclude_cover = <br />
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}}<br />
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'''''The Courtesans Reply''''' is a poetry pamphlet written by Shazea Quraishi, published as part of [[flipped eye publishing]]’s flap series. The work is no. 7 in the series. Quraishi’s poetry had been published in UK and US anthologies and journals, including Ten (Bloodaxe), [[The Financial Times]], [[Poetry Review]], [[Modern Poetry in Translation]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Featured Poem: The Courtesans Reply - Tambulasena|url=http://www.mptmagazine.com/poem/the-courtesans-reply--tambulasena-149/|website=Modern Poetry in Translation|accessdate=25 March 2016}}</ref> and [[PN Review]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Shazea Quraishi|url=http://www.speaking-volumes.org.uk/artists-by-country/shazea-quraishi/|website=Speaking Volumes|accessdate=25 March 2016}}</ref><br />
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''The Courtesans Reply'' is a long poem sequence voiced by Indian [[courtesans]]. The work consists of 16 poems divided into two parts. The collection draws inspiration from the monologue plays of ''The Caturbhānī'' and ''The Complete Kāma Sūtra'', and from historical findings. The poems detail the relationships between the courtesans and their lovers, as well as traditional activities performed by the courtesans, such as dancing and storytelling. The collection is currently being adapted as a play,<ref>{{cite web|title=Shazea Quraishi|url=http://www.speaking-volumes.org.uk/artists-by-country/shazea-quraishi/|website=Speaking Volumes|accessdate=25 March 2016}}</ref> and is also included in the Quraishi's second work, ''The Art of Scratching''.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Art of Scratching|url=http://www.bloodaxebooks.com/ecs/product/the-art-of-scratching-279|website=Bloodaxe Books|publisher=Bloodaxe Books|accessdate=25 March 2016}}</ref><br />
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==Poems==<br />
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‘Tambulasena’ begins in the style of the [[creation myth]], describing the hardened state of the speaker, and continues to focus on a metaphorical physical state. The speaker’s male lover alters her state and shapes her. The final image of the lover climbing the speaker’s hair like a rope emphasises the fantastical in this poem. Like in most of the poems in Quraishi’s collection, [[eroticism]] and sexuality are predominant themes. Both the male and female gazes are also addressed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Shazea Quraishi (poet)|url=http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poet/item/22414/21708/Shazea-Quraishi|website=Poetry International Rotterdam|accessdate=25 March 2016}}</ref><br />
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‘Sukumarika’ is addressed to the courtesan speaker’s lover, Ramasena, begging him to remember the loving and erotic relationship they shared. The kiss becomes the key motif in this poem, repeated in the listing of different types of kisses, such as ‘the devouring kiss’ and ‘the delicate kiss’. This is a motif repeated throughout the work.<br />
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‘Pradymnadasi’ is about the sensual experience of erotic biting and the mutual pleasure shared between lovers.<ref>{{cite web|author1=David Hart|title=Conveying the necessity|url=http://www.stridemagazine.co.uk/Stride%20mag%202015/May%202015/Hart.necessity.htm|website=Stride Magazine|accessdate=25 March 2016|date=2015}}</ref> The speaker suggests that bite marks left by her lover are as valuable and beautiful as precious stones and jewellery. The poem consists of four stanzas of tercets.<br />
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==Contents==<br />
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* The Sixty-Four Arts<br />
* Tambulasena<br />
* Vanarajika<br />
* Ramadasi<br />
* The Days of Chandragupta Maurya<br />
* Sukumarika<br />
* Priyangusena<br />
* Ratisena<br />
* Messenger<br />
* Madhavesana<br />
* Sondasi<br />
* Pradymnadasi<br />
* Devadatta<br />
* Carandasi<br />
* Anangadatta<br />
* Epilogue<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Courtesans Reply}}<br />
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[[Category:2012 books]]<br />
[[Category:2012 poems]]</div>>Zackmann08