Mythologizing in South Asian Traditions

Myth, Gender, Power, and Politics
2025
ISBN: 978-3-031-76829-3
Verlag: Springer Nature Switzerland

Buch, Englisch, 242 Seiten, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 456 g

This book deals with the issue of mythologizing in South Asian traditions. It brings together a number of essays dealing with the interface between mythology, gender, politics, and nationalism. The common thread that links the chapters is the appropriation and reinterpretation of myth, and its weaponizing for the purpose of power or political gain. All chapters explore the various aspects of the ongoing process of re-mythologizing of the present, as revealed in South Asian traditions. The essays in this collection respond to the same question: how to interpret the present? What is the meaning of ancient and venerated myths today? What are the ideological implications of the interpretation of myths and how do they reflect and influence the power structures of contemporary societies in South Asia?

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Dimitrova, Diana

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religion & Politik, Religionsfreiheit
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Vergleichende Religionswissenschaft
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Religionssoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction.- 2. Samkarsha?a and the Diversion of the Yamuna River according to 83.- 3. Take Me to the River, Drop Me in the Water: Vishnu's Fish as Yugic-Kalpic.- 4. The Benefits of Marrying a Demoness: the Mahabharata’s Hidimba episode in the Classroom.- 5. Waging War in :  Regulating Sex and Nation in Osho’s Rajneeshpuram.- 6. Mythologizing the : Gender, Power and Politics in Bollywood Films (1993-2007).- 7. Gender, Religious Narratives, and Film in Pre-independence India: Analysis of V. Shantaram’s Kunku.- 8. Activist Authors, Duty-bound Arjuna, and Selfless Action in Early Indian Nationalism.- 9. The Malevolent Myth of Cosmic War.

Über Autor(innen)

Diana Dimitrovais Professor of Hinduism and South Asian Religions at the University of Montreal in Montreal, Canada and Fellow of the Royal Society in Canada. Her recent publications include  (Oxford University Press, 2023) and the edited volume  (Routledge, 2021).