Religion Against the Self: An Ethnography of Tamil Rituals

by Isabelle Clark-Deces, Isabelle Nabokov

Overview

In this comprehensive analysis of South Indian village Hinduism, Isabelle Nabokov shows that a wide spectrum of Tamil rituals effects transformations of identity through similar processual and symbolic operations. She reveals that such operations may lead participants to adopt personalities which are at odds with themselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195113648
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	02/28/2002
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction		3	(16)
Painful Crossings		19	(12)
Fruit from the Goddess		31	(13)
In the Grip of Blindness		44	(11)
Last Rites for Commanding Relationships		55	(15)
Of Women and Demons		70	(16)
The Decapitation of Young Brides		86	(14)
Learning to Live with a Spilt Self		100	(14)
Fruit from the Dead		114	(11)
The Recapitation of Young Grooms		125	(13)
When Parents are Unsuitable Brides		138	(13)
From Feast to Self-Sacrifice		151	(13)
Beyond Process and Separation		164	(15)
Conclusion		179	(6)
Notes		185	(26)
References		211	(14)
Index		225

Editorial Reviews

"...an extraordinary study in ritual structure, not just in terms of "form" or of issues of the relative ubiquity or uniqueness of Tamil practice, but in how these structures serve as catalysts for wrenching expressions of grief, lament, and life-altering loss."—History of Religions

From the Publisher