LEADER 05058nam 2200697Ia 450 001 9910777401503321 005 20210527030436.0 010 $a1-283-00893-9 010 $a9786613008930 010 $a0-231-51065-9 024 7 $a10.7312/smit13748 035 $a(CKB)1000000000474430 035 $a(EBL)908532 035 $a(OCoLC)818856095 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000243718 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)12050936 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000243718 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10159635 035 $a(PQKB)11015768 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC908532 035 $a(DE-B1597)459340 035 $a(OCoLC)137922248 035 $a(OCoLC)979628502 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780231510653 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL908532 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10449840 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL300893 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000474430 100 $a20051207d2006 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurun#---|u||u 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 14$aThe self possessed$b[electronic resource] $edeity and spirit possession in South Asian literature and civilization /$fFrederick M. Smith 210 $aNew York $cColumbia University Press$dc2006 215 $a1 online resource (732 p.) 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 0 $a0-231-13748-6 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [607]-664) and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tContents --$tList of illustrations --$tPreface --$tAcknowledgments --$tIntroduction --$tPart I. Orthodoxies, Madness, and Method --$t1. Academic and Brahmanical Orthodoxies --$tPart II. Ethnography, Modernity, and the Languages of Possession --$t2. New and Inherited Paradigms --$t3. Possession, Trance Channeling, and Modernity --$t4. Notes on Regional Languages and Models of Possession --$tPart III. Classical Literature --$t5. The Vedas and Upani?ads --$t6. Friendly Acquisitions, Hostile Takeovers --$t7. Enlightenment and the Classical Culture of Possession --$t8. Vampires, Prostitutes, and Poets --$t9. Devotion as Possession --$tPart IV. Worldly and Otherworldly Ruptures --$t10. Possession in Tantra --$t11. Tantra and the Diaspora of Childhood Possession --$t12. The Medicalization of Possession in ?yurveda and Tantra --$t13. Conclusions --$tBibliography --$tIndex 330 $aThe Self Possessed is a multifaceted, diachronic study reconsidering the very nature of religion in South Asia, the culmination of years of intensive research. Frederick M. Smith proposes that positive oracular or ecstatic possession is the most common form of spiritual expression in India, and that it has been linguistically distinguished from negative, disease-producing possession for thousands of years. In South Asia possession has always been broader and more diverse than in the West, where it has been almost entirely characterized as "demonic." At best, spirit possession has been regarded as a medically treatable psychological ailment and at worst, as a condition that requires exorcism or punishment. In South (and East) Asia, ecstatic or oracular possession has been widely practiced throughout history, occupying a position of respect in early and recent Hinduism and in certain forms of Buddhism. Smith analyzes Indic literature from all ages-the earliest Vedic texts; the Mahabharata; Buddhist, Jain, Yogic, Ayurvedic, and Tantric texts; Hindu devotional literature; Sanskrit drama and narrative literature; and more than a hundred ethnographies. He identifies several forms of possession, including festival, initiatory, oracular, and devotional, and demonstrates their multivocality within a wide range of sects and religious identities. Possession is common among both men and women and is practiced by members of all social and caste strata. Smith theorizes on notions of embodiment, disembodiment, selfhood, personal identity, and other key issues through the prism of possession, redefining the relationship between Sanskritic and vernacular culture and between elite and popular religion. Smith's study is also comparative, introducing considerable material from Tibet, classical China, modern America, and elsewhere. Brilliant and persuasive, The Self Possessed provides careful new translations of rare material and is the most comprehensive study in any language on this subject. 606 $aSpirit possession$zSouth Asia 606 $aSpirit possession in literature 606 $aSanskrit literature$xHistory and criticism 606 $aTantrism$zSouth Asia 606 $aSpirit possession$xHinduism 615 0$aSpirit possession 615 0$aSpirit possession in literature. 615 0$aSanskrit literature$xHistory and criticism. 615 0$aTantrism 615 0$aSpirit possession$xHinduism. 676 $a133.4/260954 700 $aSmith$b Frederick M$01523525 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910777401503321 996 $aThe self possessed$93763768 997 $aUNINA