Robert Hueckstedt
Professor
Ph.D. Harvard Unversity, 1984

My main interests are Sanskrit literature, poetics, the Paninian tradition, and philosophy. I came to these interests from the Western classical world, particularly Greek literature, and an interest in the “High Moderns,” particularly James Joyce and Ezra Pound. The life and work of Gustave Flaubert was another major interest of my undergraduate years. From the world of Sanskrit literature and thought I have stepped out into the world of contemporary Hindi literature, and I have particularly enjoyed indulging in Urdu literature on occasion. Throughout all these wanderings the translation process and the nature and power of the word has been a major motivation as has been the problem of how different societies and cultures “define” literary “beauty” and “excellence” differently.

Current Work

• a selection and translation of short stories by the Hindi writer Mudra Rakshasa
• a translation of the Harsacarita of Bana for the Clay Sanskrit Library

Past Work in Sanskrit Philology

• The Style of Bana. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1985.
• Nearness and Respective Correlation: A history of the interpretations of Astadhyayı 6.1.77: iko yan aci. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 1995.

Past Work in Hindi Literature

• The Hunted. Translation of the novel by Mudra Rakshasa Dandavidhan. Delhi: Penguin Books India, 1992.
• Rage, Revelry and Romance: Selected Short Stories of Uday Prakash. Delhi: Srishti Publishers, 2003.
• Short Shorts Long Shots, short stories by Uday Prakash. Delhi: Katha, 2004.

Specializations

Sanskrit literature and poetics; Paninian grammatical theory; Literary translation of Hindi literature.

Undergraduate and graduate courses in Sanskrit language and literature.