The Power of Tantra: Religion, Sexuality, and the Politics of South Asian Studies Contributor(s): Urban, Hugh B. (Author) |
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ISBN: 184511874X ISBN-13: 9781845118747 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC OUR PRICE: $35.59 Product Type: Paperback Published: November 2009 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Religion | Eastern - Religion | Philosophy - Religion | Comparative Religion |
Dewey: 294.551 |
Series: Library of Modern Religion |
Physical Information: 0.81" H x 6.51" W x 9.31" (0.97 lbs) 264 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: In the West, the varied body of texts and traditions known as Tantra for more than two centuries has had the capacity to scandalize and shock. For European colonizers, Orientalist scholars and Christian missionaries of the Victorian era, Tantra was generally seen as the most degenerate and depraved example of the worst tendencies of the so-called 'Indian mind': a pathological mixture of sensuality and religion that prompted the decline of modern Hinduism. Yet for most contemporary New Age and popular writers, Tantra is celebrated as a much-needed affirmation of physical pleasure and sex: indeed as a 'cult of ecstasy' to counter the perceived hypocritical prudery of many Westerners. In recent years, Tantra has become the focus of a still larger cultural and political debate. In the eyes of many Hindus, much of the western literature on Tantra represents a form of neo-colonialism, which continues to portray India as an exotic, erotic, hyper-sexualized Orient. Which, then, is the 'real' Tantra? |