An alternative history, has been back on bookshelves in india for a few months. Wendy doniger is the mircea eliade distinguished service professor of the history of religions in the divinity school at the. Her translations for penguin classics include the rig veda, the laws of manu, and hindu myths. Wendy doniger has skilfully written to give a realistic outlook of indian history. Through this magisterial volume which she calls the book of my books wendy doniger, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest and most original scholars of. In 2011, the hindu nationalist group shiksha bachao andolan filed a civil case against penguin india over the hindus. An alternative history is a book by american indologist, wendy doniger which the author describes as an alternative to the narrative of hindu history that they tell. Wendy doniger oflaherty is an american indologist who has written several books about hinduism and sanskrit texts. An alternative history penguin, 2009 has outraged hindus around the world for allegedly insulting and offending hindus and indians. The organization hindu janajagruti samit gathered before a reading of finalists for the national book critics circle awards wednesday night in new york. The book was criticized in india, and in february 2014 it was the subject of litigation in india for deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the feelings of any religious community.
Author wendy doniger talks of the country, democracy and how her life has changed post her book being banned. After severe backlash in india and a court case that ended last. What exactly is wendy donigers agenda about the hindu. About wendy doniger oflahertys translation of the rig. Dec 23, 2019 wendy doniger oflaherty born november 20, is an american indologist whose professional career has spanned five decades. As wendy doniger, a scholar of indian religions at the university of chicago, explains in her staggeringly comprehensive book, the british indologists who sought to tame indias chaotic. One story is about fusing the head of a brahmin woman onto the body of a dalit woman. Mar, 2014 there has been much handwringing in india about wendy donigers book, the hindus.
Scholars and intellectuals across the board are critical and worried about penguins. In this unique and authoritative account, debates about hindu traditions become platforms from which to consider the ironies, and overlooked epiphanies, of history. They discussed at length on faith and religion, and he accused her of sexualising and defaming some of the holiest passages in the hindu scriptures. Wendy donigerss anti hindu hate thesis its ganesas trunk is the displaced phallus, a caricature of sivas linga. Wendy doniger, the 74yearold american author and research scholar in sanskrit is moreover known for the high regard she has had for indian tradition. She holds doctoral degrees in both sanskrit and oriental studies, and is the mircea eliade. The kamasutra is the oldest extant hindu textbook of erotic love.
Oct 30, 2015 wendy doniger, the 74yearold american author and research scholar in sanskrit is moreover known for the high regard she has had for indian tradition. Wendy doniger has 73 books on goodreads with 35307 ratings. The book was also burned across the country for religious defamation. Hindus nowadays are diverse in their attitude to their own diversity, which inspires pride in some, anxiety in others. Wendy doniger is one of the foremost scholars of hinduism in the world. Wendy doniger oflaherty born november 20, is an american indologist whose professional career has spanned five decades. She brings a multiplicity of actors and stories to the stage to show how brilliant, creativeand often subversivethinkers have kept hinduism alive and dynamic through the ages. There has been much handwringing in india about wendy doniger s book, the hindus. The traditional principle of spatial organization of the people of india is neither racial nor casteist but cultural and territorial.
Wendy donigers the hindus recalled by penguin india time. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Wendys book was positioned as an alternative history of hinduism, since according to the. There has been much handwringing in india about wendy donigers book, the hindus. Doniger, who teaches at the university of chicago and has written nearly half a dozen books on hinduism, including a translation of the kama sutra, was writing about how her 2009 book the hindus.
In her book, doniger retells hindu stories and provides snarky interpretations. A scholar of sanskrit and indian textual traditions, her major works include, asceticism and eroticism in the mythology of siva. Indeed, the shudra brahmin collapses the chasm between the subaltern and the sanskritic hindu that doniger has dug. Wendy donigers book is a tribute to hinduisms complexity. The origins of evil in hindu mythology wendy doniger o.
Hinduism does not lend itself easily to a strictly chronological account. It suggests the hinduism she is chronicling is a shadow version of some other more mainstream narrative. Wendy doniger is the mircea eliade distinguished service professor of the history of religions in the divinity school at the university of chicago, where she is also a professor of south asian languages and civilizations. Wendy doniger oflaherty is a scholar of sanskrit and indian textual traditions, her major works include, asceticism and eroticism in the mythology of siva. An alternative history is a book by american indologist, wendy doniger which the author describes as an alternative to the narrative of hindu. She is the author of several translations of sanskrit texts, including penguin classics editions of hindu myths and the rig veda, as well as many books about hinduism. An alternative history by wendy doniger of the university of chicago is really not a history at all. Wendy doniger s book on hinduism the right wing muslims made such a fuss about salman rushdie, most of them did not even read the book satanic verses, or even know that it was in english. Wendy donigers enthralling and encyclopaedic book reveals her vision of a hindu culture that is plural, varied, generous, and inclusive. In this magisterial volume of essays, wendy doniger enhances our understanding of the ancient and complex religion to which she has devoted herself for half a century.
The hindus an alternative history by wendy doniger penguin books november 2010 isbn10. Wendy donigers book on hinduism the right wing muslims made such a fuss about salman rushdie, most of them did not even read the book satanic verses, or even know that it was in english. While hardliners accuse doniger of reducing hindu gods to fictions. In this magisterial volume of essays, wendy doniger enhances our understanding of the ancient and complex religion to which she has devoted herself for half a century this series of interconnected essays and lectures surveys the most critically important and hotly contested issues in hinduism over 3,500 years, from the ancient time of the vedas to the present day. Apr 26, 2009 as wendy doniger, a scholar of indian religions at the university of chicago, explains in her staggeringly comprehensive book, the british indologists who sought to tame indias chaotic. The hindus an alternative history is an utterly wonderful book. Indian publishers nervous about taking books that might. Its publisher, penguin books india was in line of fire to have allegedly. Doniger provides several variants of the theme of transposed heads. Wendy doniger, a finalist in the nonfiction category.
Doniger is fearless in her embrace of complexity throughout her brilliant book, the hindus. Why a hindu activist targeted wendy donigers book readers browse through penguin books in new delhi. Buy wendy doniger ebooks to read online or download in pdf or epub on your pc, tablet or mobile device. Wendy donigers compendious account of religious traditions that constitute an ism only in the broadest possible sense begins with an account of being eggpelted by one such hardliner who. Hindu activists protest professor wendy donigers book. The earliest of the four hindu religious scriptures known as the vedas, and the first extensive composition to survive in any indoeuropean language, the rig veda c. On hinduism is the culmination of over forty years of scholarship from a renowned expert on one of the worlds great faiths. Apr 11, 2018 in this episode, we talk about the work of wendy doniger, who attempts to paint a binary picture of hindu history, that of trhe struggle between sanskrit and regional languages and brahmins and. It poses no threat because it is too large, flaccid, and in the wrong place to be useful for sexual purposes. Dec 16, 2017 contemporary india is an uneasy, volatile mix. She is the mircea eliade distinguished service professor of the history of religions at the university of chicago. Wendy donigers the hindus is courageous, controversial. I had written this for facebook, reproducing it here. Right or wrong, wendy donigers the hindus should be.
Wendy donigers book is a tribute to hinduisms complexity, not an. Feb 11, 2016 wendy doniger s controversial book, the hindus. The book was initially published by viking penguin in 2009 and later in india by penguins indian subsidiary, penguin india. Her career as a leading scholar with a doctorate in sanskrit and indian. Wendy doniger oflaherty was born in new york in 1940. Wendy doniger tries to remedy the enduring impression of a unified hinduism created in large part by the first british scholars of india. The real reason wendy donigers book on hindus was banned in india. Motilal banarsidass, the publisher of courtrights book, withdrew it in 2003. Wendy doniger and the hindus by murali balaji the new.
Wendy doniger was born in new york in and trained as a dancer under shiva. Wendy donigers book the hindus withdrawn by penguin. Wendy doniger holds doctorates in sanskrit and indian studies from harvard and oxford. Oct 26, 2015 with immense skill wendy doniger illuminates those moments within the hindu tradition that resist forces that would standardize or establish a canon. Jan 21, 2016 this book is a treat and pleasure to read. Feb 12, 2014 donigers book is part of this alternative history that seeks to explore the worlds of the dalits and women outcasts at the bottom of the hindu hierarchy. Gavin flood, professor of hindu studies and comparative religion, oxford university these lively essays, flowing from wendy doniger s decadeslong encounter with hinduism, show us what can happen when an extraordinary mind takes up an even more extraordinary subject. An anthology, 108 hymns translated from the sanskrit.
Fight back and reclaim wendy donigers valuable book taken away from you by a spineless publisher and the fundamentalists they made a deal with. And while shes delighted about it, the professor of history of religions at university of chicago is wary of coming to the country. Read part 1 here bridge of discourse between this hindu and that hindu hindus need to be wary of the intractable opposition between this hindu and that hindu that is falsely posited and perpetrated by orientalists like doniger. Doniger fails to realize that unlike the muslim or christian distinctiveness, hindu distinctiveness coming across as this and that does not rest on rituals or practices in which people are marked as different and counted in or out from each other. The title of donigers book an alternative history is problematic. Jul 10, 2019 wendy donigers controversial book the hindus. The next year, the hindu right government in the state of maharashtra.
This series of interconnected essays and lectures surveys the most critically important and hotly contested issues in hinduism over 3,500 years, from the ancient time of the vedas to the present day. Hinduism, in her view, is an intricate weave of the diverse localities and communities of indian culture. With her inimitable insight and expertise doniger illuminates those moments within the tradition that resist forces that would standardize or establish a canon. She frames the debate over her book, as well as other topics when it comes to hinduism, as one between hindu rightwing activists and scholars. An alternative history by wendy doniger, a professor of religion at the. Doniger concludes with four concise autobiographical essays in which she reflects on her lifetime of scholarship, hindu criticism of her work, and the influence of hinduism on her own philosophy of life. With immense skill wendy doniger illuminates those moments within the hindu tradition that resist forces that would standardize or establish a canon. Feb 03, 2014 doniger concludes with four concise autobiographical essays in which she reflects on her lifetime of scholarship, hindu criticism of her work, and the influence of hinduism on her own philosophy of life. Wendys book was positioned as an alternative history of hinduism, since according to the author mainstream history was written. Fight back and reclaim wendy doniger s valuable book taken away from you by a spineless publisher and the fundamentalists they made a deal with excerpt from the introduction you cant make an omelet.
Doniger, a scholar of religion and professor at the university of chicago, wrote the hindus. The freudian and marxist agendas tell us to look for the subtext, the hidden transcript, the censored text. Wendy doniger is the mircea eliade distinguished service professor of the history of religions at the university of chicago and the author of over 30 books, most recently the hindus. The author, wendy doniger, has two doctorates, one in sanskrit and one in indian studies, so she is exceedingly well qualified to write meaningfully on this topic. This is emphatically not a religion of any single book. P enguin books india has said this week that it will destroy all available copies of the 2009 book by the indologist wendy doniger, the hindus. In march 2010, hindu american foundation cofounder aseem shukla debated various elements from the book with doniger herself on a washington postsponsored blog. In this episode, we talk about the work of wendy doniger, who attempts to paint a binary picture of hindu history, that of trhe struggle between sanskrit and regional languages and brahmins and. The real reason wendy donigers book on hindus was banned in. Seventythreeyearold doniger is an american jewish indologist who has been a professor at the university of chicago since 1978. About the art of living as well as about the positions in sexual intercourse, it is here newly translated into clear, vivid, sexually frank english.
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