Ebook: Woman and goddess in Hinduism: reinterpretations and re-envisionings

"The essays in this volume offer multiple interpretations of Hindu understandings of the Feminine, both human and divine, that self-consciously encourage theological revision and gender activism. All of the contributors are faithful to traditional Hindu categories, texts, and ways of thinking, but they creatively appropriate the materials they examine in ways that are affirming of the feminine and, in many cases, explicitly empowering to women. In offering multiple constructive explorations of the Hindu Feminine--some with, and others without the framework of a confessional stance--this book challenges normative conceptions of the emic/etic chasm and its expected impact on scholarship"--;A Hermeneutics of Intersubjectivity / Rita D. Sherma -- pt. 1. Theological Reflection -- Satī, Suttee, and Sāvitrī / Arvind Sharma -- Female Beauty, Female Power: Seeing Devī in the Saundarya Lahari / Francis Xavier Clooney -- Mystery, Wonder, and Knowledge in the Triadic Figure of Mahāvidyā Chinnamastā: A Sākta Woman's Reading / Neela Bhattacharya Saxena -- pt. 2. Reclaiming Alternative Modalities of Feminine Power -- Sītā Rasoīs and Sākta Pīthas: A Feminine Reclamation of Mythic and Epic Proportions / Phyllis K. Herman -- Spreading Sakti / Karen Pechilis -- The Kālī Practice: Revisiting Women's Roles in Tantra / Loriliai Biernacki -- pt. 3. The Feminine Principles in Hindu Thought and Practice: Problems and Possibilities -- Hindu Rituals on Behalf of Women: Notes on First Principles / Laurie L. Patton -- The Feminine Concept of Surrender in Vaisnava Discourse / E.H. Rick Jarow -- Gandhi's Construction of the Feminine: Toward an Indigenous Hermeneutics / Veena Rani Howard -- Conclusion Reimagining the Hindu Feminine / Tracy Pintchman.;"Offering multilayered explorations of Hindu understandings of the Feminine, both human and divine, this book emphasizes theological and activist methods and aims over historical, anthropological, and literary ones. The contributors approach the Feminine in Hindu traditions from the standpoint of intersubjective construction via a method that can be termed dialexis. Here, dialexis refers to a form of intellectual engagement "across styles" that takes as its starting point an adequate accounting of contextualized signification. The diverse ways that cultures articulate themselves are rooted in lexical choices made in historical, geographical, and cultural contexts"--