The saint in the banyan tree [[electronic resource] ] : Christianity and caste society in India / / David Mosse

• Autore: Mosse David
• Pubblicazione: Berkeley, : University of California Press, c2012
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (408 p.)
• Disciplina: 275.4/0808694
• Soggetto topico: Christianity - India, South; Tamil (Indic people) - Religion; Christianity and other religions; Social classes - India, South - Religious aspects; Caste - Religious aspects - Christianity
• Soggetto genere / forma: Electronic books.
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Front matter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Transliteration -- Introduction -- 1. A Jesuit Mission in History -- 2. A Culture of Popular Catholicism -- 3. Christians in Village. Society Caste, Place, and the Ritualization of Power -- 4. Public Worship and Disputed Caste. The Santiyakappar Festival over 150 Years -- 6. Hindu Religious Nationalism and Dalit Christian Activism -- 7. A Return Visit to Alapuram. Religion and Caste in the 2000's -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Glossary -- References -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: The Saint in the Banyan Tree is a nuanced and historically persuasive exploration of Christianity's remarkable trajectory as a social and cultural force in southern India. Starting in the seventeenth century, when the religion was integrated into Tamil institutions of caste and popular religiosity, this study moves into the twentieth century, when Christianity became an unexpected source of radical transformation for the country's 'untouchables' (dalits). Mosse shows how caste was central to the way in which categories of 'religion' and 'culture' were formed and negotiated in missionary encounters, and how the social and semiotic possibilities of Christianity lead to a new politic of equal rights in South India. Skillfully combining archival research with anthropological fieldwork, this book examines the full cultural impact of Christianity on Indian religious, social and political life. Connecting historical ethnography to the preoccupations of priests and Jesuit social activists, Mosse throws new light on the contemporary nature of caste, conversion, religious synthesis, secularization, dalit politics, the inherent tensions of religious pluralism, and the struggle for recognition among subordinated people.
• Titolo autorizzato: The saint in the banyan tree
• ISBN: 1-283-61328-X; 0-520-95397-5
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910462371503321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II
• Serie: The Anthropology of Christianity