The essays in this collection address the problem of Hindu women's relationship to authority, both within and without the textual traditions of Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi, and English. The authors adopt a method of close textual and ethnographic reading, which results in some surprisingly new and subtle ways of interpreting older, more classical discourses, such as Veda and Mimamsa, as well as newer discourses, such as the RSS use of the Devimahatmya.
Contributors Abbreviations Introduction,Laurie L. Patton Part II. Ancient Arguments 1. The Housemistress at the Door: Vedic and Buddhist Perspectives on the Mendicant Encounter,Ellison Banks Findly 2. Ritual Rights: The Gender Implications ofAdhik-ara,Mary McGee 3. Mantras and Miscarriage: Controlling Birth in the Late Vedic Period,Laurie L. Patton Part II. Classical Arguments 4. Giver or Given? Some Marriages in K-alid-asa,Stephanie W. Jamison 5.Om, the Vedas, and the Status of Women with Special Reference to 'Sr-ivaisnavism,Katherine K. Young 6. Casting Light on the Sounds of the Tamil Veda: Tirukk-on-eri D-asyai's Garland of Words ,Vasudha Narayanan Part III. Reform and Contemporary Arguments 7. By What Authority? Hindu Women and the Legitimization of Reform in the Nineteenth Century,Nancy Auer Falk 8. Hindu Nationalist Women: On the Use of the Feminine Symbolic to (Temporarily) Displace Male Authority,Paola Bacchetta 9. Counterpoint Authority in Women's Ritual Expressions: A View from the Village,Ann Grodzins Gold Afterword,Laurie L. Patton Bibliography Index
Laurie Patton has brought together a fascinating array of essays, a veritable collection of gems... The conscious decision to link textual traditions and ethnographic analysis makes this rich collection of interdisciplinary and mullă.
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