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The Heathen in His Blindness (Asia, The West and The Dynamic of Religion)
The Heathen in His Blindness (Asia, The West and The Dynamic of Religion)
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DETAILS :
- Author : S. N. Balagangadhara
- Publisher : Manohar Pubns
- Publication Date :28 February 2015
- Language : English
- Paperback : 503 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9350980088
- ISBN-13 : 978-9350980088
- Item Weight : 800 g
ABOUT THE BOOK
The Heathen in His Blindness* challenges Western interpretations of Asian religions by deconstructing the very concept of "religion" as it is understood in the West. Balagangadhara argues that Western scholars have imposed Christian-centric frameworks onto non-Western cultures, leading to misrepresentations of traditions like Hinduism. Through a critical analysis of historical encounters between Europe and Asia, the book examines how concepts such as "religion" and "orthodoxy" were constructed and applied to Indian contexts. Balagangadhara's work invites readers to reconsider the universality of religious categories and to appreciate the distinctiveness of cultural expressions in Asia.
This trenchant critique of Western scholarship on Eastern religions holds that religion is important to the West because the constitution and the identity of Western culture are tied to the dynamic of Christianity as a religion. Through discussions of Hinduism, this volume shows how non-Western cultures and religions differ from descriptions prevalent in the West. The author proposes novel analyses of religion, the Roman religio, the construction of religions in India, and the nature of cultural differences. Today, most intellectuals agree that Christianity has profoundly influenced Western culture; that members from different cultures experience many aspects of the world differently; and that the empirical and theoretical study of both culture and religion emerged within the West. These truisms have implications for the world-wide conceptualization of religion and culture and this book explains the reasons why.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
S. N. Balagangadhara is a professor and the director of the Research Centre Vergelijkende Cultuurwetenschap at Ghent University in Belgium. The research program he has developed during the last two decades aims to create an alternate framework for the study of different human cultures.
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