Imagined Hinduism: British Protestant Missionary Constructions of Hinduism, 1793 - 1900 - Brossura

Oddie, Geoffrey A

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0761934871 ISBN 13: 9780761934875

Casa editrice: SAGE, 2006

Riassunto

This book explores the emergence and subsequent refinement of the idea of Hinduism as it developed among British Protestant missionaries in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Using missionary writings, the author shows how the early conservative view of Hinduism as pagan or heathen grew into the dominant paradigm of Hinduism as a unitary, brahman-controlled system, ridden with idolatry, ritualism, superstition, and sexual license. The last few chapters examine the impact of these representations of Hinduism in India and the West. This book is noteworthy for its recognition of the role of 'imagination' and the concept of the 'dominant paradigm'.

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Recensione:

A valuable work adding a lot that is useful to the debate. Should be of interest to anyone involved in debates not just on missionary thought, but the constrction of the terms “religion” and “ Hinduism”, as well as the broader range of debates around orientalism and post-colonial thinking.

(Journal of Religious History)

Product Description:

This important book explores the emergence and subsequent refinement of the idea of Hinduism as it developed among British Protestant missionaries in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The author demonstrates how the missionaries' construction of Hinduism grew out of their own roots in post-Enlightenment Europe, their Christian conception of religion, the colonial reality of India, and their need to 'know the enemy' in order to spread Christianity more effectively. Drawing upon missionary writings, Geoffrey Oddie shows how the early view of Hinduism as pagan or heathen settled into the dominant paradigm of Hinduism as a unitary, brahman-controlled 'system', ridden with idolatry, ritualism, superstition and sexual licence. This 'other' was compared with evangelical Christianity, in which inward devotion counted for more than outward ritual, and where the individual was free from oppression and 'priestcraft'. Finally, this book looks at the impact of these representations of Hinduism in India and the West. By the late nineteenth century, as the author demonstrates, the missionaries' increasing acquaintance with Hinduism not only prompted a more sympathetic approach, but also a revision of the unitary model. Some even spoke of 'the many Hindu religions'. Among Hindu leaders, in contrast, the notion of being Hindu and of Hinduism as one system had taken hold.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: SAGE
• Data di pubblicazione: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0761934871
• ISBN 13: 9780761934875
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero edizione: 1
• Numero di pagine: 376