A Restatement of Religion : Swami Vivekananda and the Making of Hindu Nationalism
ISBN: 9780300198874
Platform/Publisher: Ebook Central / Yale University Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a Time
Subjects: Political Science; Religion;

In this third installment of his comprehensive history of "India's religion" and reappraisal of Hindu identity, Professor Jyotirmaya Sharma offers an engaging portrait of Swami Vivekananda and his relationship with his guru, the legendary Ramakrishna. Sharma's work focuses on Vivekananda's reinterpretation and formulation of diverse Indian spiritual and mystical traditions and practices as "Hinduism" and how it served to create, distort, and justify a national self-image. The author examines questions of caste and the primacy of the West in Vivekananda's vision, as well as the systematic marginalization of alternate religions and heterodox beliefs. In doing so, Professor Sharma provides readers with an incisive entryway into nineteenth- and twentieth-century Indian history and the rise of Hindutva, the Hindu nationalist movement. Sharma's illuminating narrative is an excellent reexamination of one of India's most controversial religious figures and a fascinating study of the symbiosis of Indian history, religion, politics, and national identity. It is an essential story for anyone interested in the evolution of one of the world's great religions and its role in shaping contemporary India.

Jyotirmaya Sharma is professor of political science at the University of Hyderabad, India. He was a Fellow of the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in Uppsala, Sweden and his publications include Hindutva: Exploring the Idea of Hindu Nationalism and Terrifying Vision: M.S. Golwalkar, the RSS and India.

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