Studying Hinduism: Key Concepts and Methods PDF
Preview Studying Hinduism: Key Concepts and Methods
Studying Hinduism Studying Hinduism is an indispensable resource for students and researchers wishing to develop a deeper understanding of one of the world’s oldest and most multi-faceted religious traditions. Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby, leading scholars in the fi eld, have brought together a rich variety of perspectives which refl ects the current lively state of the fi eld. Studying Hinduism is the result of cooperative work by accomplished specialists in several fi elds which include anthropology, art, comparative literature, history, philosophy, religious studies, and sociology. Through these complementary and exciting approaches, students will gain a greater understanding of India’s culture and traditions, to which Hinduism is integral. The book uses key critical terms and topics as points of entry into the subject; these include: Art •Body • Cinema • Cognitive Science • Colonialism • Diaspora • Ecology • Ethnography • Ethnosociology • Exchange • Experience • Fiction • Gender • Intellect • Kinship • Law • Memory • Myth • Nationalism • Orientalism • Postcolonialism • Psychoanalysis • Ritual • Romanticism • Sacred • Stratifi cation • Structuralism • Subaltern Studying Hinduism reveals that although Hinduism can be interpreted in sharply contrasting ways and set in widely varying contexts, it is endlessly fascinating and intriguing. Sushil Mittal is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence at James Madison University in Virginia. Gene Thursby is an Associate Professor at the University of Florida. Together they have co-edited Religions of South Asia (2006) and The Hindu World (2004), also published by Routledge. Studying Hinduism Key Concepts and Methods Edited by Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby First published in the USA and Canada 2008 by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2008 Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby, editorial matter and selection © 2008 individual contributors for their contributions All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN 0-203-93973-5 Master e-book ISBN ISBN: 978–0–415–30125–1 (hbk) ISBN: 978–0–415–30126–8 (pbk) ISBN: 978–0–203–93973–4 (ebk) To T.N. Madan and McKim Marriott in appreciation for their exemplary service to scholars, scholarship, and the subcontinent Contents Contributors ix Introduction 1 Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby 1 Art 3 Heather Elgood 2 Body 19 Barbara A. Holdrege 3 Cinema 41 Philip Lutgendorf 4 Cognitive Science 59 Ellen Goldberg 5 Colonialism 73 Sharada Sugirtharajah 6 Diaspora 86 Maya Warrier 7 Ecology 97 Lance E. Nelson 8 Ethnography 112 Mathew N. Schmalz 9 Ethnosociology 125 Richard H. Davis 10 Exchange 139 Diane P. Mines 11 Experience 155 June McDaniel 12 Fiction 167 Amardeep Singh viii Contents 13 Gender 178 Ann Grodzins Gold 14 Intellect 194 Douglas L. Berger 15 Kinship 207 Maya Unnithan-Kumar 16 Law 218 Donald R. Davis, Jr. 17 Memory 230 Christian Lee Novetzke 18 Myth 251 Herman Tull 19 Nationalism 265 Peter Heehs 20 Orientalism 278 Carl Olson 21 Postcolonialism 289 Saurabh Dube 22 Psychoanalysis 303 Paul B. Courtright 23 Ritual 314 Kathryn McClymond 24 Romanticism 327 Dorothy Figueira 25 Sacred 339 Ramdas Lamb 26 Stratifi cation 354 Joseph W. Elder 27 Structuralism 366 Carl Olson 28 Subaltern 378 Christian Lee Novetzke and Laurie Patton Index 400 Contributors Editors Sushil Mittal is associate professor of Hinduism and director of the Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence at James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia. Gene Thursby is associate professor of religion at the University of Florida, Gainesville. They have previously co-edited The Hindu World and Religions of South Asia, also published by Routledge. Contributors Douglas L. Berger is assistant professor of philosophy at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Paul B. Courtright is professor of religion in South Asia at Emory University, Atlanta. Donald R. Davis, Jr. is assistant professor of languages and cultures of Asia at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Richard H. Davis is professor of religion and Asian studies at Bard College, Annandale. Saurabh Dube is professor of history at El Colegio de México, Mexico. Joseph W. Elder is professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Heather Elgood is course director in Asian art at the British Museum, United Kingdom.
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