History and the making of a modern Hindu self
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
History and the making of a modern Hindu self
Routledge, 2011
Available at 3 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [217]-226) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Taking the contentious debates surrounding historical evidence and history writing between secularists and Hindu nationalists as a starting point, this book seeks to understand the origins of a growing historical consciousness in contemporary India, especially amongst Hindus. The broad question it poses is: Why has 'history' become such an important site of identity, conflict and self-definition amongst modern Hindus, especially when Hinduism is known to have been notoriously impervious to history? As modern ideas regarding notions of history came to India with colonialism, it turns to the colonial period as the 'moment of encounter' with such ideas.
The book examines three distinct moments in the Hindu self through the lives and writings of lower-caste public figure Jotiba Phule, 'moderate' nationalist M. G. Ranade and Hindu nationalist V. D. Savarkar. Through a close reading of original writings, speeches and biographical material, it is demonstrated that these three individuals were engaged with a modern historical and rationalist approach. However, the same material is also used to argue that Phule and Ranade viewed religion as living, contemporaneous and capable of informing both their personal and political lives. Savarkar, the 'explicitly Hindu' leader, on the contrary, held Hindu practices and traditions in contempt, confining them to historical analysis while denying any role for religion as spirituality or morality in contemporary political life.
While providing some historical context, this volume highlights the philosophical/ political ideas and actions of the three individuals discussed. It integrates aspects of their lives as central to understanding their politics.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction: Historicizing the Politics of History 2. Exploring the Contours of History and Religion in Colonial India 3. Phule:Historicizing Mythology: A Rationalist Critique 4. Phule:Where History Meets its Other 5. Ranade: Using a Modern Historical Gaze on India's Past 6. Ranade:Dehistoricizing Religion through a Critical Textual Interpretation and a Faith-based Critique 7. Savarkar:History as a Hegemonic Worldview 8. Savarkar: History, Hindutva and Crafting a Modern Hindu Identity 9. Conclusion:The Limits of History. Bibliography. About the Author. Index.
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