Raj / Dempsey Sacred Play

Ritual Levity and Humor in South Asian Religions
1. Auflage 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4384-2981-6
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 236 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

Explores the significance of levity and humor in South Asian religious traditions.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Raj, Selva J.

Dempsey, Corinne G.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Sonstige Religionen Östliche Religionen

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Figures
Acknowledgments

1. Introduction: Ritual Levity in South Asian Traditions
Selva J. Raj and Corinne Dempsey

PART 1. Laughing Inside Out: Playful Breaks with Convention

2. Serious Levity at the Shrine of St. Anne in South India
Selva J. Raj

3. Don’t Take It Badly, It’s Holi: Ritual Levity, Society, and Agriculture
A. Whitney Sanford

4. Playing the Married Lady: Primary Marriage among the Newars of Nepal
Liz Wilson

PART 2. Gods and Humans at Play: Religious Humor and Divine Intimacy

5. The “Artful Trick”: Challenging Convention through Play in Upstate New York
Corinne Dempsey and Sudharshan Durayappah

6. Friendship, Humor, Levity, and Love in a Hindu Women’s Ritual Tradition
Tracy Pintchman

7. Laughing until It Hurts. Somebody Else: The Pain of a Ritual Joke
William P. Harman

8. Gods’ Play and the Buddha’s Way: Varieties of Levity in Contemporary Sinhala Practice
Jonathan Walters

PART 3. Playing to Win: Edging Out the Competition

9. Playing with Durga in Bengal
Rachel Fell McDermott

10. Turning Karbala Inside Out: Humor and Ritual Critique in South Asian Muharram Rites
Amy C. Bard

11. A Catholic Charismatic Healer at Play in North India
Mathew N. Schmalz

12 Response
Jonathan Z. Smith

List of Contributors
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Selva J. Raj (1952–2008) was Chair and Stanley S. Kresge Professor of Religious Studies at Albion College. His books include Dealing with Deities: The Ritual Vow in South Asia, also published by SUNY Press, and South Asian Christian Diaspora: Invisible Diaspora in Europe and North America. Corinne G. Dempsey is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. She is author of Kerala Christian Sainthood: Collisions of Culture and Worldview in South India and The Goddess Lives in Upstate New York: Breaking Convention and Making Home at a North American Hindu Temple. Together Raj and Dempsey coedited Popular Christianity in India: Riting between the Lines and Miracle as Modern Conundrum in South Asian Religious Traditions, both also published by SUNY Press.