Muscular Mahabharatas: masculinity and transnational Hindu identity

The climax of the Sanskrit Mahābhārata is undeniably muscular, since it involves a kṣatriya family fighting a brutal but righteous war. Many 21st century Mahabharata adaptations not only emphasize the muscularity of the epic, but also flex these muscles in an arena beyond the Kurukṣetra battlefield:...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kanjilal, Sucheta (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
WorldCat: WorldCat
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Univ. 2018
In: Nidān
Year: 2018, Volume: 3, Issue: 2, Pages: 18-39
Further subjects:B Transnational
B Epic
B Sanskrit language
B Mahabharata
B Gender
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:The climax of the Sanskrit Mahābhārata is undeniably muscular, since it involves a kṣatriya family fighting a brutal but righteous war. Many 21st century Mahabharata adaptations not only emphasize the muscularity of the epic, but also flex these muscles in an arena beyond the Kurukṣetra battlefield: the world. Through an analysis of texts such as Chindu Sreedharan’s Epic Retold (2015) and Prem Panicker’s Bhimsen (2009), I suggest that the increased visibility of epic warrior narratives across global platforms indicates a desire to re-fashion a hypermasculine identity for Hindus in the transnational religio-political sphere. I see this as an attempt to distance Hinduism from Gandhi’s ‘passive resistance’ and colonial conceptions of the ‘effeminate native’. Instead, it aligns with the nationalist and global aims of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who emphasizes the importance of Hindu traditions and physical fitness for collective prosperity. While these new epic adaptations certainly broaden the reach of Hindu culture beyond national boundaries, I suggest exhuming only warrior narratives from the epic texts oversimplifies Hindu values and threatens a range of gender identities and religious affiliations.
ISSN:2414-8636
Contains:Enthalten in: Nidān
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.58125/nidan.2018.2