Narrative urbane: note metodologiche per un’indagine sulla città indiana

Indian cities seem particularly suitable for investigation through narrative, due both to the abundance of literary and/or folk materials about their origins and development – which often contrasts with the relative scarcity of purely historical data – and to the tendency to elaborate modern and contemporary narrative-myths through popular media such as cinema and television. The first organic description of an Indian city (Ayodhyā) may be found in Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa. From a critical analysis of the text, reliable data and information may be obtained regarding the dynamics and the practices that brought about the institution of a ‘modern’ urban society characterized by the hegemonies of the monarchy, of the priestly caste, and of agriculture. A few narrations regarding the origin and the development of Bengaluru (Bangalore) are also analyzed here – from those related to the foundation of the city to the latest pictures presenting Bengaluru as Garden City or Technopolis – with the aim of demonstrating not only how highly significant data may be extracted from urban narratives but also how these data may be used to integrate research on Indian cities that is conducted in different disciplinary fields.