Krešimir Krnic, Department of Indology and Far Eastern Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Pain and Joy of Reading Hindi Literature

The approach to teaching Hindī can take different directions. Of course technical part, i.e. mastering the grammar and vocabulary are one unavoidable part. But after that, stress could be made on more theoretical linguistic knowledge or on level of understanding of source text. When this text is itself of the technical nature, it means, such that more the core meaning than its stylistic value is important, the satisfying result is usually achieved after two to three years of study. Both teacher and student face more problem when coping with literary texts, since these texts ask for literary sense on the part of the student (and teacher, of course), and grasping of the real meaning of the text, not to talk about grasping its hidden aesthetic value, can be real pain. But the joy it gives to the one who successfully solves the quest is of the utmost value.

I will try to discuss the way and methods to lead our students from pain to joy.