Hindu pluralism: A prehistory

Sectarianism is a term that has become firmly ingrained in Western scholarly literature on Hinduism for more than a century—and with a definition that, at best, may seem peculiarly idiosyncratic, and at worst dangerously misleading. In emplotting theistic difference as deviance, previous scholarship...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Fisher, Elaine M. 1984- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell [2018]
In: Religion compass
Year: 2018, Volume: 12, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 1-9
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Asia / Hinduism / Pluralism / Confessionalism / History 1533-2018
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
BK Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism
KBM Asia
TJ Modern history
TK Recent history
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
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Summary:Sectarianism is a term that has become firmly ingrained in Western scholarly literature on Hinduism for more than a century—and with a definition that, at best, may seem peculiarly idiosyncratic, and at worst dangerously misleading. In emplotting theistic difference as deviance, previous scholarship has gone too far in erasing the variegated textures of the Indic religious landscape, layers of difference that persist unabated to this day beneath the guise of Hindu unity. By reframing the diversity of Hinduism in light of its early modern precursors, this article aims to re-situate Hindu sectarianism as a precolonial, and distinctively non-Western form of religious pluralism. The sectarian religious publics of early modern South India provide us with an opportunity to rethink the very criteria for a non-Western pluralism, founded not on the prescriptive model of a Western civil society but on a historically descriptive account of the role of religion in public space.
ISSN:1749-8171
Contains:Enthalten in: Religion compass
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/rec3.12257