Explaining Mantras: Ritual, Rhetoric, and the Dream of a Natural Language in Hindu Tantra - Rilegato

Yelle, Robert A.

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0415966353 ISBN 13: 9780415966351

Casa editrice: Routledge, 2003

Riassunto

Explaining Mantras explores the intersection of poetry and magic in the mantras or verbal formulas of Hindu Tantra. The author reveals how mantras work in light of both the esoteric tradition of Tantra and a general semiotic theory of ritual. Mantras mimic the act of sexual reproduction and the cosmic cycle of creation and destruction. A mantra that imitates creation is believed to be more creative and effective in producing a real-world result. Drawing from linguistics, semiotics, anthropology, and philosophy, as well as the history of religions, the author argues that mantras and other ritual discourses use rhetorical devices, including imitation, to construct the persuasive illusion of a natural language, one with a direct and immediate connection to reality. This vital relation between poetry and ritual has been neglected in many current theories of religion. Explaining Mantras combines the study of ancient Tantric rituals with the latest theories in the human sciences, and will be of interest to a broad range of readers.

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Informazioni sull'autore

Robert A. Yelle has a Ph.D. in the History of Religions from the University of Chicago. He spent a year as a Fulbright-Hays Fellow researching Tantric ritual in Calcutta, India, and has published articles in Numen, Religion, and the Journal of the American Academy ofReligion.

Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: Routledge
• Data di pubblicazione: 2003
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0415966353
• ISBN 13: 9780415966351
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero edizione: 1
• Numero di pagine: 190
• Contatto del produttore: Routledge; https://www.routledge-ny.com/; ; Stockst?dter Str. 20; Gro?ostheim; Bayern; Germania