Academic Hinduphobeia

7/25/2019 Academic Hinduphobeia

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Academic Hinduphobeia

Books

1.J M Blaut : The Colonizers Model of the World : Geographical

Diffusionism and Eurocentric History

2.Enrique Dussel : The Invention of the Americas : Eclipse of the Other

and the Myth of Modernity

3.Frantz Fanon : The Wretched of the Earth

4.Anindita Niyogi Balslev : Cross-Cultural Conversation5.Tzvetan Todorov : The Conquest of America

6.Richard Crasta : Impressing the Whites : The New International Slavery

Expressions

1.In the late 1990s, a major controversy broke when I started

2.which most Hindus vulgar and outright insulting

3..things flared up between the Indian diaspora and

4.She lost her clout in

5.She lost most of the students who earlier thronged to at her doorstep.

6.At least these academics have become less blatant in their denigration of

Hinduism.

7.reached an out of court settlement

8.with the opposing litigants and agreed to pulp the copies printed by

them in India.

9.Scholars mine such data, filter it through Western lens, legitimize it with

Western peers who are part of their own academic system.

10.


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Main Ideas

Using or Misusing inapplicable lenses of Marxist, Freudian and leftist

theories to an ancient and a deeply spiritual civilization. Moreover, the

irony was that none of these scholars was actually trained professionally

even in the theories that they had applied for analyzing Hinduism. It

was, for example, kitsch-psychology, where words like penis, vagina

semen and menstrual blood were thrown in liberally to interpret

everything and anything related to Hinduism in order to appear cool and

provocative in a fashionable sense.

What startled me was that whereas all the Abrahamic faiths and even

Buddhism were largely represented by practitioner scholars, the opposite

was the case with Hinduism. The dominant attitude was that, We

western scholars know Sanskrit better and we understand your texts and

tradition more than you Hindus understand them. In fact, I learned that

those few scholars who did come out as Hindus were harassed and

marginalized. It was as if, in the eyes of most western scholars, Hinduism

needed to be saved from the Hindus!


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After independence, the Marxist control over media, arts and literature,

historiography etc. in the last several decades left a vacuum in the

academic presentation of Hinduism studies. To teach anything about

Hinduism means being branded communal. In government funded

universities, there are hardly any dedicated programs teaching darshans,

for instance. In fact, most Indian authors write books about Hinduism

under the category of Indian culture just to be politically correct. In this

environment where it is uncool to be a Hindu in a country with an 80%

Hindu population, suddenly there appears a book whose title says that it

is on Hinduism which is written in racy English prose by a white women

claiming to be an expert of Sanskritic texts.

There is an entire cottage industry around the theme of what I termed

atrocity literature, in which Indian masses are depicted as suppressed

and oppressed and therefore in need of liberation by western

interventionists.

How to counter this Hinduphobeia? The first step is to question their

so-called scholarship and biases. The second thing to do in parallel

would be for us as a community to invest our time, effort and money in

understanding our own tradition. Third, Hindu diaspora will need to


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reassess its priorities. We have constructed thousands of beautiful

temples all over the world. But we risk these temples becoming museums

within a few generations because we are not education our children on

what our culture truly means.

The Phenomenon of South Asianizing, which has emerged from this

confluence of excessive ethnography and Indian Macaulayism, has

subverted Hinduisms universal instance, Christianity is not defined in

terms of Middle Eastern ethnography, although it is studied also in

sociological terms.

Being seen as objective is to the academicians of Indic traditions what

being civilized was to the British. Hence by compelling them to be

objective in receiving criticism, in acknowledging falsities that they have

perpetuated, in re-examining the asymmetries we have our best chance

to change the very system of objective scholarship that they control.

It is the representation system that defines that metaphors and

terminology, interprets what they mean in various situations, influences

what issues are selected to focus on, and most importantly, grants

privileges by determining who is to control this marketplace of ideas.

As an implicit body of standards, a representation system disguises a

meta-ideology the substratum of contexts on which specific ideologies


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emerge and interact. It includes the language used and the unstated

frames of reference, and acts as the subliminal filter through which

positions are constructed and their fate negotiated.

Therefore control over the representation of knowledge is analogous to

control over the operating system of computers: representation systems

are to competing ideas what operating systems are to computer

applications.

The hallmark of a good education in an American liberal arts college is

based on what is called the Western Classics. A study of Western

Civilization starts with the study of ancient Greek and Semitic thought,

before moving on to Classical Roman, modern European, and finally,

American thought. Such an intellectual foundation is deemed important

for one to be considered a well-educated person in the humanities,

regardless of ones religious beliefs (or lack thereof), and regardless of

ones specific academic major. By way of illustration only, the following is

what one liberal arts college advertises very proudly about its Classics

program.

Classics and Classical Civilization at a Typical American Liberal Arts

College :


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From the Constitution of the United States, to the framework of modern law, to the

vocabulary and ideas of everyday speech and writing, the classics exert a pervasive

influence.The power of Greece and Rome extends into virtually every aspect of

our modern lives. Western traditions of philosophy, science, religion, art, and,

above all, literature draw their origins from the intellectual curiosity and

colorful imagination of the ancient Greeks and Romans.The Department of

Classics provides a window into the life, times, and ideas of the founders of western

society. Students of Greek learn the language of Homer and the idioms of Aristotle and

Plato, while Latin classes learn to argue in the words of Cicero and Julius Caesar.The

debt we owe to the Greeks and Romans is so large and multi-faceted that the

study of classics is interdisciplinary by nature.For example, the classics

curriculum includes courses offered by the Departments of Philosophy, Art, Religion

Government, and Science and Technology. Yet, all of these courses form part of a

coherent whole for classics majors and minors. Students of the classics reap all the

benefits of a liberal arts education, and at the same time, maintain a focus in their

studies.

The Department of Classics is thriving on a resurgence of interest in classical

languages and culture.. Students can choose to gain an overview of long periods of

classical history, or study shorter periods in great detail. In class, we apply various

modern, even pioneering, theoretical approaches drawn from the disciplines of

anthropology, sociology, and literary criticism.Between the departments offerings

on language, literature, history, and culture, and the courses offered by other


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departments on, for example, ancient philosophy, classical art and architecture,

and classical political thoughts, students choose from an extensive array of

courses.

The Department of Classics offers majors and minors in two programs: one in

classics, which concentrates on language and literature in Greek, Latin, or both, and

one in classical civilization that encompasses all the facets of classical culture. Many

students in both programs have taken advantage of the opportunity to study in Greece

and Italy through programs especially designed for American students.In Athens, the

cradle of Western democracy, and the birthplace of Greek tragedy and Platos

academy, students can further their studies while familiarizing themselves with

the Acropolis and Agora.In Rome, they can continue to pursue the ideals of a

classical education while breathing the air that the Roman emperors inhaled, and

walking the streets that for centuries saw triumphs over distant peoples. In recent

years, our joint major in Classics/Classical Civilization-English has become popular

and we have just added another joint major in Classical Civilization-Anthropology.

The department strives to emulate the intellectual curiosity of the Greeks and

Romans. Our activities extend beyond the classroom to various social, yet educational

events. We have enjoyed showing movies and videos related to the classics from time to

time.

We bring prominent experts from the U.S. and abroad to share new perspectives on

topics of the ancient world. We are proud to have state-of-the-art computer support

for our students. By tapping a few keys, they can call up any Greek or Latin text, and

search through the entire cannon of classical authors in the original or in translation.

Furthermore we have book-marked numerous sites of classical interest on the


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Internet. All of this in a room graced by reproductions of classical statues, vases, and

paintings!

It is the departments goal to foster keen intellectual curiosity and sound principles of

analysis and problem-solving in all our students, by providing academic stimuli and

allowing our students to harness the power of the imagination just like the great

thinkers, politicians, artists and writers of Greece and Rome.Not surprisingly

graduates of the [Classics] major are pursuing successful careers in law,

medicine, teaching, academia, government, art, management, and other fields.

The study of the classics trains the mind for much more than the translation of texts

and the analysis of a culture. The study of classics also prepares you to meet life with

the confidence of Achilles and the self-reliance of Odysseus.

I find similar deep respect and dignity for the Western Classics at Princeton, Harvard,

Columbia, University of Chicago, Yale, Oxford, Paris, and virtually every top Western

university. The benefit is not only intended for those specializing in the Western

Classics. The Western Classics are in the core curriculum of many colleges, regardless

of specialization.

Compare this to the tragic state of Indian Classics in Indias own

higher education.The equivalent to the Greek Classics would be Indias

Vedas, Puranas and other Sanskrit, Pali and Tamil texts. In a comparable

education system, students would learn about Pannini, Patanjali,

Buddha, Nagarjuna, Dharmakirti, Bharthrhari, Shankara


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Abhinavgupta, Bharata Muni, Gangesh, Kalidasa, Aryabhata and dozens

of other great classical thinkers produced by India. Unfortunately, in the

name of progress, modernity, and political correctness, Indian Classics

have been virtually banished from Indias higher education a

continuation of the policy on Indian education started by the famous

Lord Macaulay over 150 years ago. While India supplies information

technology, biotechnology, corporate management, medical and other

professionals to the most prestigious organizations of the world, it is

unable to supply world-class scholars in the disciplines of its own

traditions. The reason is that the nexus of Indology studies remains in

Western universities, almost as though decolonization had never

happened. The top rated academic journals and conferences on Indology

and India related fields are in the West, run largely by Western scholars

and funded by Western private, church and governmental interests. The

best research libraries in the Indian Classics are in the West. Religious

Studies is the hottest academic field in the humanities in the US, and is

growing at a very fast rate, but is non-existent as a discipline in Indian

universities. Therefore, to get an internationally competitive PhD in

Sanskrit, Indian Classics, Hinduism, Buddhism, or Jainism Studies,

with the highest rigor in methods and theory, such that one may get an


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academic job in this specialty in a leading international university, a

student is forced to go to a US, UK or German university.

Hence, one cannot find qualified experts of Indian religions in India, in

order to debate Western scholars. The few Indian scholars within the

Western academy who are educated in the Indian Classics, are either

below the glass ceiling, or else are politically cautious given the risks to

their career ambitions.

Furthermore, the marginalization of Indias heritage in its education

system, particularly in the English medium system that produces most of

the leaders of modern Indian society, has resulted in the leaders of

industry, civil service, media and education becoming a culturally lost

generation. The result is todays self-alienated, cynical youth prevalent in

many places, especially in elite positions.

The justification given for the study of Greek Classics in the West is not

that they are considered 100% true today (whatever that might mean),

or that better thought has not superceded them. Rather, the purpose is

to understand the history of the Western mind, so that students may lay

a sound and strong foundation for their thinking in order to move this

civilization further into the future. The Western Classics provide the

Western intellectual with the resources to be a serious thinker for today.


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It is also about the identity of Westerners and their culture. Great

emphasis is placed on the integrity of an old Western Civilization traced

back to Greece (although the massive inputs received from non-Western

sources are carefully suppressed see Part 3). This (re)construction of

Western Civilization is an ongoing project, and is considered very critical

for the survival and prosperity of what is known as the West.

One should apply this logic to Classical Indian thought and see parallel

benefits for Indias renaissance. Unfortunately, a great disservice has

been done to Indian Classics by equating them with religion. Arguably,

the most comprehensive and challenging knowledge representation

systems available outside the West are contained in the Indian

Classics. The sheer magnitude of Indias Classics is over one hundred

times as large as that of the Greek Classics. For a brief glimpse into some

of the potentials based on the recovery of Indian Classics, see the web

site for an academic Colloquium on this very subject. Yet, whatever little

is taught about Indian Classics tends to suffer from its ghetto like

positioning as South Asian, whereas Greek thought is positioned as

being universal. The dominant (European) culture, into which Greek

thought became assimilated, claims to own the logos (the rational


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principle that governs and develops the universe), while non-Western

peoples indigenous ideas are mythos and exotica. Greek Classics are

taught in mainstream academia and are not relegated to a particular

ethnicity or area of the world. Indian Classics, on the other hand, are

considered relevant mainly as a way to understand what is unique (i.e.

peculiar) about Indian ethnicity.

Furthermore, Greek thought is referenced as being of Greek origin,

whereas, when Indian ideas are appropriated, their Indian origin is

erased over time: real knowledge is implied to come only from Western

sources; all others must wait till they get legitimized by being claimed as

Western. This is because the knowledge representation system is under

Western control, and hence they are the final arbiters of what belongs

where. Only when something falls under Western control does it

become legitimate.

Hindus loss of control over their own scholarship for centuries led to the

freezing of a very vibrant tradition. While Christianity has progressed

with constructive theologies (for instance, liberation theology), Hinduism

scholarship has been under the trusteeship mainly of non-Hindus.

Today, when Hindus re-interpret their texts to make them current with

the times, they are dismissed as quacks, when all other major religions

enjoy this privilege. While literal Biblical interpretations are well


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respected, and this literalism is the belief of roughly half of all American

Christians[59], when Hindus base their scholarship on literal

interpretations of Puranas, they are condemned as fascists,

fundamentalists, and so forth.
http://creative.sulekha.com/the-axis-of-neocolonialism_103313_blog#59http://creative.sulekha.com/the-axis-of-neocolonialism_103313_blog#59

Academic Hinduphobeia

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