Trois thèses sur le Rāmāyana - article ; n°3 ; vol.34, pg 464-489

Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations - Année 1979 - Volume 34 - Numéro 3 - Pages 464-489
Three theses concerning the Ramayana
The three theses discussed in the text although complementary, refer to the distinct levels of analysis applicable to any epic text.
Rama's career revolves around three serious transgressions the murder of Valin, the murder of Ravana, and the repudiation of Queen Sita. Each of these transgressions concerns exclusively one of the ideological levels attached to the three ideological functions (characteristic of Indo-European society generally). Hence the Rama legend is built up from a stable rigorously structured model. One may compare its central thematics to an equivalent episode described in the career of Indra, a warrior god who also sinned three times (Markandeyapurana 5).
However, the strict organisation of epic texts does not stop here we will show that it is developed within the precise limits imposed by its mythic substructure. This structure is examined both diachronically (the mythic structure respects, throughout its transpositions, the essential principles characteristic in Vedic theology of the second-level), and synchronically (the general framework within which mythic characters and individual actions pertaining to the legend are inscribed is rigorously maintained)
This triple approach to the Epic (syntagmatic, paradigmatic, and sub-structural) makes it possible to account for nearly the entire legend as well as for variants developed in later periods.
26 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.