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About this book
This volume brings together compelling new research on South Asian women who have renounced worldly life for spiritual pursuits. Documenting contemporary women's experiences with intimate ethnographic narratives, this book offers feminist insights into Jain, Buddhist, Hindu and Baul ascetic traditions.
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Keywords
Table of contents (10 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Introduction: Women on Their Own
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Portraits of Singular Women
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Front Matter
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Landscapes of Contemporary Traditions
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Reviews
'This book provides a series of fascinating, lively ethnographic studies of South Asian women who reject the normative roles of wife and mother and then sometimes conform to them after all. Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Muslim, living in north India, Nepal and Bangladesh, these women attempt to transcend their roles, their sexuality, or even their bodily existence. Their very different, very individual lives represent a much more varied array of possibilities for South Asian women than almost anyone has been aware of. The book will be a wonderful resource for courses on South Asian culture, gender studies, and religious studies, as well as for anyone who simply wants to think about the many different ways in which human beings can live.' Anne Feldhaus, Foundation Professor of Religious Studies, Arizona State University
'What is wonderful about this book is the vividness and intimacy of the ethnographic portraits of female renouncers strikingly diverse Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Jain and Baul, and Bonwomen who have crafted their lives outside of conventional realms, thwarting the overwhelming expectation that South Asian women will marry and procreate. Women's Renunciation in South Asia is an important book that will change the ways both gender and renunciation are understood in the region.' - Sarah Lamb, author of White Saris and Sweet Mangoes: Aging, Gender and Body in North India and co-editor of Everyday Life in South Asia
About the authors
MEENA KHANDELWAL is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Women's Studies, University of Iowa, USA.
SONDRA L. HAUSNER is an Anthropologist based in Kathmandu, Nepal.
ANN GRODZINS GOLD is Professor of Religion and Anthropology and Director of the South Asia Centre, Syracuse University, USA.
SONDRA L. HAUSNER is an Anthropologist based in Kathmandu, Nepal.
ANN GRODZINS GOLD is Professor of Religion and Anthropology and Director of the South Asia Centre, Syracuse University, USA.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Women's Renunciation in South Asia
Book Subtitle: Nuns, Yoginis, Saints, and Singers
Editors: Meena Khandelwal, Sondra L. Hausner, Ann Grodzins Gold
Series Title: Religion/Culture/Critique
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-10485-4
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social & Cultural Studies Collection, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Nature America Inc. 2006
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4039-7221-7Published: 24 October 2006
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-10485-4Published: 30 April 2016
Series ISSN: 2945-6355
Series E-ISSN: 2945-6363
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XII, 296
Topics: Gender Studies, Sociology of Religion, Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology, Organic Chemistry, Religion and Gender, Comparative Religion