$1,500.00
This course is part of the following programs:
Master of Arts in Hindu Studies (MA)
Admission into a qualifying Program of Study.
There are no prerequisite courses.
The ability to read complex texts and follow sustained arguments is required.
The course is organized into three sections: (1) Reception, (2) Reconstruction, and (3) Research. Under “Reception” we shall study the arrival of the Bhagavadgītā in the West and the concerns that dominated its early reception. Here, we shall see how the Bhagavadgītā (and the Mahābhārata more generally) served as a foil for German nationalism and for Protestant Christian anxieties.
Under “Reconstruction” we shall study how, in response to these anxieties, scholars manufactured a putative history of the text, reflecting their notions of the corruption of the original revelation, the subordination of the people by the church, and the usurpation of authority from the kings by the priesthood. Under “Research,” we shall then trace how these ideas about an original text, the so-called Ur-Gītā, and its subsequent interpolation percolated to contemporary Indian writers. We shall study several examples including G. S. Khair, P. N. Bazaz, and Meghnad Desai.
Finally, we shall also read excerpts from six contemporary authors (Brockington, Davis, Doniger, Rambachan, and Malinar) to understand the central issues alive in Gītā scholarship today (Brahmanism, nationalism, violence, caste, and racism). Optional assignments include looking at Christian apologists’ view of the Bhagavadgītā.
The class will meet for three hours each week. The course is structured as a series of lectures. Students will be asked to complete brief assignments (typically between 3–5 questions) to test their comprehension of the materials presented in class. There will be final exam. This is a take-home exam.
$1,500.00
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