Invading the Sacred
| Invading the Sacred: An Analysis of Hinduism Studies in America | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Author | Antonio de Nicolas, Krishnan Ramaswamy and Aditi Banerjee |
| Country | India |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Rupa & Co |
Publication date | 2007 |
| Pages | 545 |
| ISBN | 978-8129111821 |
| OCLC | 162522146 |
Invading The Sacred: An Analysis Of Hinduism Studies In America is a critical work published in 2007 by Rupa & Co. which discusses the alleged biased portrayal of Hinduism in the Western academy based religious studies and Hindu studies.[1][2][3] The editors of the book are Antonio de Nicolas, Krishnan Ramaswamy and Aditi Banerjee.[4] The book has contributions from Prof. Arvind Sharma of McGill University, S.N.Balagangadhara of Ghent University, Psychoanalyst Alan Roland, Yvette C. Rosser, Ramesh N. Rao, Pandita Indrani Rampersad, Yuvraj Krishnan and others.
Background
Discourses on religions shifted from sharing knowledge amongst Western scholars to members of religions and traditions challenging the discourse in post European Imperialism. The book, according to Prof. Arvind Sharma, is at turning point where members claim right to discourses of traditions and religions about Hinduism, as also relationship amongst interlocutors.[5]
Documenting protests and disputed studies
The book documents essays, critiques and surveys of western scholarship on religions and traditions in India. Often, the current knowledge in America of Hinduism is shocking to Indians. The book also contains critiques of European ideas as applied to Indian culture. The last sections chronicles how key academic establishments in USA have responded.[6] The book documents protests that are not only of cognitive or factual basis but also often about interpretations. A non-cognitive approach that is non-falsifiable makes study of Hinduism more of an art correspondingly which leads to new challenge of differences of opinions between members and scholars. Critics of academics claim bias or gross errors in some aspects.[5] The book also disputes the studies by Wendy Doniger, Jeffery Kripal and Paul Courtright. It also critiques the efficacy of the excessive use of Freudian psychoanalysis in hermeneutics which some of these studies rely on.[1]
Analysis of the book
An extensive scholarly analysis of this work has been published by Rahul Peter Das.[7]
See also
- Autobiography of a Yogi
- Hinduism Invades America
- Hindu American Foundation
- Breaking India
- Being Different
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Banerjee, Aditi. "Invading The Sacred". Outlook. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
- ↑ Ramaswamy, Krishnan. "Invading the Sacred". Little India. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
- ↑ Mark Singleton, Jean Byrne (2008). Yoga in the modern world: contemporary perspectives. Taylor & Francis. p. 13.
- ↑ Francis X. Clooney (2010). Comparative Theology: Deep Learning Across Religious Borders. John Wiley and Sons. p. 172.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Preface by Prof. Arvind Sharma, Invading The Sacred - An Analysis of Hinduism Studies in America, the book's website
- ↑ Foreword by S.N. Balagangadhara, Invading The Sacred-An Analysis of Hinduism Studies in America, the book's website
- ↑ See "On the Study of Hinduism in the USA, and the Issue of adhikāra-", Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 106 (2011):151-168, ISSN 0030-5383
External links
- "Invading the Sacred". Retrieved 15 August 2010.
- Krishna Kirti Das; Gaura Keshava Das. "A Review of Invading the Sacred". Samprajna. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
- Iyengar, Bhasyam G. "Launch of 'Invading the Sacred' - A book that matters". Narthaki.com. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
- Raman, V.V. "Review". Retrieved 15 August 2010.