A Female Shankaracharya?: The Alternative Authority of a Feminist Hindu Guru in India
This article examines the practices through which a female religious leader (guru) in India by the name of Trikal Bhavanta Saraswati (in shorthand, “Mataji”) constructs women’s alternative authority in a high powered lineage of male Hindu gurus called Shankaracharyas. Mataji’s appropriation of the S...
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| Medienart: | Elektronisch Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Verfügbarkeit prüfen: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Lade...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Veröffentlicht: |
Brill
[2019]
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| In: |
Religion & gender
Jahr: 2019, Band: 9, Heft: 1, Seiten: 27-49 |
| normierte Schlagwort(-folgen): | B
Bhavanta, Trikal ca. 20./21. Jh.
/ Śaṅkara 788-820
/ Theologische Schule
/ Weiblicher Guru
/ Autorität
/ Feminismus
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| RelBib Classification: | AD Religionssoziologie; Religionspolitik AG Religiöses Leben; materielle Religion BK Hinduismus, Jainismus, Sikhismus |
| weitere Schlagwörter: | B
Hindu Gurus
B Feminism B Authority B Sadhus B Gender B Performance B Power |
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Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Zusammenfassung: | This article examines the practices through which a female religious leader (guru) in India by the name of Trikal Bhavanta Saraswati (in shorthand, “Mataji”) constructs women’s alternative authority in a high powered lineage of male Hindu gurus called Shankaracharyas. Mataji’s appropriation of the Shankaracharya leadership demonstrates an Indic example of “dharmic feminism,” by virtue of which she advocates the female as normative and, through that radical notion, advances a dharmic platform for gender equality in institutions in which women rarely figure among the power elite. Through narrative performance, Mataji reshapes the boundaries of religious leadership to affirm new possibilities for female authority in a lineage that has denied women’s agency. Exploring her personal experience narratives and the themes they illuminate can shed light on why her leadership intervenes in an orthodox lineage of male authority to exercise alternative authority and exact transformation of contemporary Hinduism. |
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| ISSN: | 1878-5417 |
| Enthält: | Enthalten in: Religion & gender
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/18785417-00901002 |