Articles liés à The Power of Tantra: Religion, Sexuality and the Politics...

The Power of Tantra: Religion, Sexuality and the Politics of South Asian Studies - Couverture souple

 
9781845118747: The Power of Tantra: Religion, Sexuality and the Politics of South Asian Studies
Afficher les exemplaires de cette édition ISBN
 
 
In the West, the varied body of texts and traditions known as Tantra for more than two centuries has had the capacity to scandalize and shock. For European colonizers, Orientalist scholars and Christian missionaries of the Victorian era, Tantra was generally seen as the most degenerate and depraved example of the worst tendencies of the so-called 'Indian mind': a pathological mixture of sensuality and religion that prompted the decline of modern Hinduism. Yet for most contemporary New Age and popular writers, Tantra is celebrated as a much-needed affirmation of physical pleasure and sex: indeed as a 'cult of ecstasy' to counter the perceived hypocritical prudery of many Westerners. In recent years, Tantra has become the focus of a still larger cultural and political debate. In the eyes of many Hindus, much of the western literature on Tantra represents a form of neo-colonialism, which continues to portray India as an exotic, erotic, hyper-sexualized Orient. Which, then, is the 'real' Tantra?Focusing on one of the oldest and most important Tantric traditions, based in Assam, northeast India, Hugh B Urban shows that Tantra is less about optimal sexual pleasure than about harnessing the divine power of the goddess that flows alike through the cosmos, the human body and political society. In a fresh and vital contribution to the field, the author suggests that the 'real' meaning of Tantra lies in helping us rethink not just the history of Indian religions, but also our own modern obsessions with power, sex and the invidious legacies of cultural imperialism.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Revue de presse :
'The Power of Tantra is a major scholarly treatment of a much misconstrued esoteric tradition and a well-written and illustrated guide to a dimension of Hinduism that deserves the careful research Hugh Urban has given it. An impressive achievement.' --Paul B Courtright, Professor of Religion and Asian Studies, Emory University

'Boldly and creatively takes the arguments about Tantra in an entirely new direction.' --Wendy Doniger, Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions, University of Chicago

'Once again, Hugh B. Urban has given us a sophisticated, reflexive, mind-bending study of a specific set of Tantric traditions. In the process, we are taken down what he aptly calls 'a path of desire and power' whose paradoxical energies center on the goddess, flow through the human body and its fluids, the social order, and the body politic (all at once), are unleashed through esoteric ritual practices, experienced as a source of supernatural powers, and put in the service of kingship, political rule, even ultra-moderns forms of a new embodied spirituality. Writing against and beyond all the old East-West dualisms, tired anti-intellectualisms, and easy idealizations, Urban has become one of our most able, artful, and careful guides.' --Jeffrey J Kripal, J Newton Rayzor Professor of Religious Studies, Rice University
Biographie de l'auteur :
Hugh B. Urban is Professor of Comparative Studies at Ohio State University. One of the leading western scholars of Tantric religion, Professor Urban is the author of several books which include Magia Sexualis: Sex, Magic and Liberation in Modern Western Esotericism (2006), Tantra: Sex, Secrecy, Politics and Power in the Study of Religion (2003) and Songs of Ecstasy: Tantric and Devotional Songs from Bengal (2001).

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

  • ÉditeurI.B. Tauris
  • Date d'édition2009
  • ISBN 10 184511874X
  • ISBN 13 9781845118747
  • ReliureBroché
  • Nombre de pages264
  • Evaluation vendeur
Acheter D'occasion
état :  Très bon
250 Pages Indexed. The First South... En savoir plus sur cette édition
EUR 40,49

Autre devise

Frais de port : EUR 41,62
De Etats-Unis vers France

Destinations, frais et délais

Ajouter au panier

Autres éditions populaires du même titre

9781845118730: The Power of Tantra: Religion, Sexuality, and the Politics of South Asian Studies

Edition présentée

ISBN 10 :  ISBN 13 :  9781845118730
Editeur : I.B. Tauris, 2009
Couverture rigide

Meilleurs résultats de recherche sur AbeBooks

Image fournie par le vendeur

Urban, Hugh B.
ISBN 10 : 184511874X ISBN 13 : 9781845118747
Ancien ou d'occasion Trade Paperback Edition originale Quantité disponible : 1
Vendeur :
Don's Book Store
(Albuquerque, NM, Etats-Unis)
Evaluation vendeur

Description du livre Trade Paperback. Etat : Fine. THE First South Asian Edition. 250 Pages Indexed. The First South Edition 2011. This edition is for sale in the Indian subcontinent only. Not for export elsewhere. Surely no aspect of South Asian religion has generated more confusion, controversy, or misunderstanding than the complex body of texts and traditions known as Tantra. Since their first encounter with Indian religions, Western audiences have been at once fascinated and horrified, by turns shocked and titillated by this seemingly most exotic of all aspects of the exotic Orient. For European colonizers, Orientalist scholars, and Christian missionaries of the Victorian era, Tantra was generally seen as the worst, most degenerate and depraved example of all the worst tendencies in the "Indian mind," a pathological mixture of religion and sensuality that had led to the decline of modern Hinduism. Yet for most contemporary New Age and popular writers, conversely, Tantra is now celebrated as a much-needed affirmation of physical pleasure and sexuality, as a "yoga of sex" or "cult of ecstasy" that might counteract the hypocritical prudery of the Christian West. N° de réf. du vendeur 23337

Plus d'informations sur ce vendeur | Contacter le vendeur

Acheter D'occasion
EUR 40,49
Autre devise

Ajouter au panier

Frais de port : EUR 41,62
De Etats-Unis vers France
Destinations, frais et délais