Skip to Content

Defining Hinduism

A Reader

Edited by J. E. Llewellyn

Published January 24th 2006 by Routledge – 288 pages

Series: Critical Categories in the Study of Religion

    Purchasing Options:

    Description

    Defining Hinduism is concerned not only with what Hinduism is, but also with what it has been, and with the history of the term "Hinduism". Defining Hinduism brings together essays by some of the most influential and interesting scholars working on the religions of South Asia today. The volume also offers a comprehensive general introduction to the subject as well as individual introductions to each of the three parts of the book. This reader will be a valuable tool for the study of the world's third largest religion.

    Reviews

    '…this book is a useful combination to the academic conversation about Hinduism.' - Rebecca J. Manring, Indiana University, Bloomington

    Contents

    Acknowledgments

    Introduction: The Problem of Defining Hinduism

    PART I: Definitions of Hinduism

    1 Wilhelm Halbfass – The Idea of the Veda and the Identity of Hinduism

    2 Julius J. Lipner – Ancient Banyan: An Inquiry in the Meaning of "Hinduness"

    PART II: Hinduism in the Precolonial Period

    3 David N. Lorenzen – Who invented Hinduism?

    4 Will Sweetman – Unity and Plurality: Hinduism and the Religions of India in Early European Scholarship

    PART III: Hinduism in the Colonial Period and in Independent India

    5 Brian K. Smith – Questioning Authority: Constructions and Deconstructions of Hinduism

    6 Robert Eric Frykenberg – Constructions of Hinduism at the Nexus of History and Religion

    PART IV: Hinduism and Caste

    7 Mary Searle-Chatterjee – "World Religions" and "Ethnic Groups": Do these Paradigms Lend Themselves to the Cause of Hindu Nationalism?

    8 Gail Omvedt – Introduction to Dalit Visions

    9 Timothy Fitzgerald – Problems with "Religion" as a Category for Understanding Hinduism

    Bibliography

    Index

    Author Bio

    J. E. Lllewellyn is a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Southwest Missouri State University. He has written two books and a number of articles on the religions of South Asia.

    Related Subjects

    1. Religion

    Name: Defining Hinduism: A Reader (Paperback) – Routledge 
    Description: Edited by J. E. Llewellyn. Defining Hinduism is concerned not only with what Hinduism is, but also with what it has been, and with the history of the term "Hinduism". Defining Hinduism brings together essays by some of the most influential and interesting scholars...
    Categories: Religion