Religion and Public Memory

A Cultural History of Saint Namdev in India

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Eastern Religions, Hinduism, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Religion and Public Memory by Christian Lee Novetzke, Columbia University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Christian Lee Novetzke ISBN: 9780231512565
Publisher: Columbia University Press Publication: July 1, 2008
Imprint: Columbia University Press Language: English
Author: Christian Lee Novetzke
ISBN: 9780231512565
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication: July 1, 2008
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Language: English

Namdev is a central figure in the cultural history of India, especially within the field of bhakti, a devotional practice that has created publics of memory for over eight centuries. Born in the Marathi-speaking region of the Deccan in the late thirteenth century, Namdev is remembered as a simple, low-caste Hindu tailor whose innovative performances of devotional songs spread his fame widely. He is central to many religious traditions within Hinduism, as well as to Sikhism, and he is a key early literary figure in Maharashtra, northern India, and Punjab.

In the modern period, Namdev appears throughout the public spheres of Marathi and Hindi and in India at large, where his identity fluctuates between regional associations and a quiet, pan-Indian, nationalist-secularist profile that champions the poor, oppressed, marginalized, and low caste. Christian Lee Novetzke considers the way social memory coheres around the figure of Namdev from the sixteenth century to the present, examining the practices that situate Namdev's memory in multiple historical publics. Focusing primarily on Maharashtra and drawing on ethnographies of devotional performance, archival materials, scholarly historiography, and popular media, especially film, Novetzke vividly illustrates how religious communities in India preserve their pasts and, in turn, create their own historical narratives.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Namdev is a central figure in the cultural history of India, especially within the field of bhakti, a devotional practice that has created publics of memory for over eight centuries. Born in the Marathi-speaking region of the Deccan in the late thirteenth century, Namdev is remembered as a simple, low-caste Hindu tailor whose innovative performances of devotional songs spread his fame widely. He is central to many religious traditions within Hinduism, as well as to Sikhism, and he is a key early literary figure in Maharashtra, northern India, and Punjab.

In the modern period, Namdev appears throughout the public spheres of Marathi and Hindi and in India at large, where his identity fluctuates between regional associations and a quiet, pan-Indian, nationalist-secularist profile that champions the poor, oppressed, marginalized, and low caste. Christian Lee Novetzke considers the way social memory coheres around the figure of Namdev from the sixteenth century to the present, examining the practices that situate Namdev's memory in multiple historical publics. Focusing primarily on Maharashtra and drawing on ethnographies of devotional performance, archival materials, scholarly historiography, and popular media, especially film, Novetzke vividly illustrates how religious communities in India preserve their pasts and, in turn, create their own historical narratives.

More books from Columbia University Press

Cover of the book After Evil by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book The Invention of Private Life by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Anxieties of Empire and the Fiction of Intrigue by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Home in Hollywood by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Space as a Strategic Asset by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book The Taliban's Virtual Emirate by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book How Women Got Their Curves and Other Just-So Stories by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book A Dharma Reader by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Autism's False Prophets by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book There a Petal Silently Falls by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Black & White & Noir by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Animals as Persons by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book The Columbia Guide to Irish American History by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Kinship with Monkeys by Christian Lee Novetzke
Cover of the book Tunisia by Christian Lee Novetzke
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy