Escaping from Rama: portraits of Indian women
This study examines visual, post-colonial portraits of the Indian women of the Sanskrit epics, in order to show the sociocultural, historical-ideological roots of this aesthetic. After independence, Hindu movements found in the epics a female archetype, who stands for the Hindu community. Post-colon...
Publié dans: | Culture and religion |
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Auteur principal: | |
Type de support: | Numérique/imprimé Article |
Langue: | Anglais |
Vérifier la disponibilité: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Publié: |
Taylor & Francis
[2014]
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Dans: |
Culture and religion
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Sujets / Chaînes de mots-clés standardisés: | B
Inde
/ Hindouisme
/ Sanskrit
/ Épopée
/ Image de la femme
/ Postcolonialisme
/ Bollywood
/ Amar Chitra Katha
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RelBib Classification: | AA Sciences des religions AD Sociologie des religions BK Hindouisme KBM Asie NCC Éthique sociale TK Époque contemporaine |
Accès en ligne: |
Volltext (doi) |
Résumé: | This study examines visual, post-colonial portraits of the Indian women of the Sanskrit epics, in order to show the sociocultural, historical-ideological roots of this aesthetic. After independence, Hindu movements found in the epics a female archetype, who stands for the Hindu community. Post-colonial visual representations maintained this idealistic characterisation within a binary system, according to which women can be angelic guarantors of the social order or devilish, sexually uncontrolled creatures. This ambiguity derives from the double nature of the female principle of the world, shakti, and the visual storytelling tradition or chitrakatha. Using the same Indian storytelling tradition, female points of view have begun to criticise this nationalistic, 'male gaze'. In the graphic novel Sita's Ramayana, Rama and male activities, particularly war, are secularised and criticised as selfish by female characters, foremost of whom is Sita, a model of the devoted and pure bride or pativrata. |
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ISSN: | 1475-5610 |
Contient: | Enthalten in: Culture and religion
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2014.945469 |