Imagining Hinduism: A Postcolonial PerspectiveImagining Hinduism examines how Hinduism has been defined, interpreted and manufactured through Western categorizations, from the foreign interventions of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Orientalists and missionaries, to the present day. Sugirtharajah argues that ever since early Orientalists 'discovered' the ancient Sanskrit texts and the Hindu 'golden age', the West has nurtured a complex and ambivalent fascination with Hinduism, ranging from romantic admiration to ridicule. At the same time, Hindu discourse has drawn upon Orientalist representations in order to redefine Hindu identity. As the first comprehensive work to bring postcolonial critique to the study of Hinduism, this is essential reading for those seeking a full understanding of Hinduism. |
Contents
William Jones Making Hinduism safe | 1 |
Max Miiller Mobilizing texts and managing Hinduism | 38 |
William Wards virtuous Christians vicious Hindus | 74 |
Decrowning Farquhars Hinduism | 90 |
Courtly text and courting sati | 108 |
Conclusion | 133 |
Notes | 145 |
| 153 | |
| 161 | |
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Common terms and phrases
affirm ancient Anglicists Aryan Aryan race Baptist missionaries become beliefs bhakti biblical brahminical Brahmo British century chapter Christ Christianity civilization colonialists concept constructions of Hinduism culture deities devotion divine draws attention East eighteenth-century Europe's European evolutionary Farquhar feminine GGII goddess gods hermeneutical Hindoos Hindu chronology Hindu laws Hindu texts Hindu women Hinduism Hindutva husband hymns ibid ideal ideology idolatry images India ISKCON Julia Leslie Kṛṣṇa language Leslie's Manu Max Müller missionaries monotheism moral Müller remarks mythology myths natives nineteenth-century notion oriental orientalists orientalists and missionaries original past patriarchal political postcolonial practices primitive Protestant pundits reform religion religious representation of Hinduism Rg Veda role Romila Thapar Roop Kanwar Sacred Books Sanskrit texts sati scholars scriptures seen significance Śiva social spiritual Śrīvaiṣṇava śruti Swaminarayan textual Thapar theory tion tradition translation truth Tryambaka's Veda Vedic Ward's Warren Hastings wife William Jones William Ward woman words worship