The lived religious experiences of Hindu women, and the interpretations of these that they bring ... more The lived religious experiences of Hindu women, and the interpretations of these that they bring to bear on their own lives and those of their children in diaspora, have largely been overlooked in the study of Hinduism, resulting in a significant lack in our understanding of the lived religious experience of Hindus. This dissertation responds to that lack by paying attention to women's daily embodiment of religious narratives in Canada. I investigate participants' household devotional activity in dialogue with their experiences of temple worship, all with a view to revealing performances of religious narrative in quotidian diasporic experience. Hindu women's daily interactions with the Divine are presented as a site of dialogue between orthodox norms and the imaginative, creative element inherent in the lived experience of religion. It is shown that women's devotional lives are a key site for the articulation of daily, experiential Hinduism in which individual actors...
Static models of Hindu women as marginalized and muted subjects have in recent years been enliven... more Static models of Hindu women as marginalized and muted subjects have in recent years been enlivened by a body of work that investigates the ways in which women both subtly and overtly resist, contest, and re-imagine these roles. This article presents a thematic survey of this field of study, drawing from a selection of recent ethnographic work that has contributed to our deepened understanding of the manifold ways – both positive and negative – that Hindu women experience their tradition. It serves as a beginner's guide to the literature tracing the multiplicity of meaningful engagements with Hindu belief and practice that mark the rhythms of women's daily lives, and points to new areas for research.
Method & Theory in The Study of Religion, Jan 1, 2009
... From this temple, the field expanded to include the Vishwa Shakti Durga Mandir in September... more ... From this temple, the field expanded to include the Vishwa Shakti Durga Mandir in September 2006, and from there, immediately thereafter, to the homesand the home shrinesof individual informants ... In Amma's Healing Room: Gender and Vernacular Islam in South India. ...
The lived religious experiences of Hindu women, and the interpretations of these that they bring ... more The lived religious experiences of Hindu women, and the interpretations of these that they bring to bear on their own lives and those of their children in diaspora, have largely been overlooked in the study of Hinduism, resulting in a significant lack in our understanding of the lived religious experience of Hindus. This dissertation responds to that lack by paying attention to women's daily embodiment of religious narratives in Canada. I investigate participants' household devotional activity in dialogue with their experiences of temple worship, all with a view to revealing performances of religious narrative in quotidian diasporic experience. Hindu women's daily interactions with the Divine are presented as a site of dialogue between orthodox norms and the imaginative, creative element inherent in the lived experience of religion. It is shown that women's devotional lives are a key site for the articulation of daily, experiential Hinduism in which individual actors...
Static models of Hindu women as marginalized and muted subjects have in recent years been enliven... more Static models of Hindu women as marginalized and muted subjects have in recent years been enlivened by a body of work that investigates the ways in which women both subtly and overtly resist, contest, and re-imagine these roles. This article presents a thematic survey of this field of study, drawing from a selection of recent ethnographic work that has contributed to our deepened understanding of the manifold ways – both positive and negative – that Hindu women experience their tradition. It serves as a beginner's guide to the literature tracing the multiplicity of meaningful engagements with Hindu belief and practice that mark the rhythms of women's daily lives, and points to new areas for research.
Method & Theory in The Study of Religion, Jan 1, 2009
... From this temple, the field expanded to include the Vishwa Shakti Durga Mandir in September... more ... From this temple, the field expanded to include the Vishwa Shakti Durga Mandir in September 2006, and from there, immediately thereafter, to the homesand the home shrinesof individual informants ... In Amma's Healing Room: Gender and Vernacular Islam in South India. ...
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Papers by Janet Gunn