Jarrod L. Whitaker
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199755707
- eISBN:
- 9780199895274
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199755707.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This book considers the ritualized poetic construction of male identity in the R̥gveda, India’s oldest Sanskrit text, and argues that an important aspect of early Vedic life involves the sustained ...
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This book considers the ritualized poetic construction of male identity in the R̥gveda, India’s oldest Sanskrit text, and argues that an important aspect of early Vedic life involves the sustained promotion and embodiment of what it means to be a true man. The R̥gveda contains over a thousand hymns to primarily three gods: the deified ritual Fire, Agni, the war-god Indra, and the sacred beverage sóma. The hymns were sung in daylong fire rituals in which poet-priests prepared the sacred drink in order to empower Indra. The dominant image of Indra is that of a highly glamorized, violent, and powerful Āryan male and the three gods represents the ideals of manhood. R̥gvedic poet-priests employ various poetic and performative strategies, some explicit, others less so, in order to construct their masculine ideology as normative, while justfymg it as the most valid way for men to live. For example, Poet-priests naturalize this ideology by encoding it within a man’s sense of his body and physical self. R̥gvedic ritual rhetoric and practices thus encode specific male roles, especially the role of man as warrior, while embedding these roles in a complex network of social, economic, and political relationships.Less
This book considers the ritualized poetic construction of male identity in the R̥gveda, India’s oldest Sanskrit text, and argues that an important aspect of early Vedic life involves the sustained promotion and embodiment of what it means to be a true man. The R̥gveda contains over a thousand hymns to primarily three gods: the deified ritual Fire, Agni, the war-god Indra, and the sacred beverage sóma. The hymns were sung in daylong fire rituals in which poet-priests prepared the sacred drink in order to empower Indra. The dominant image of Indra is that of a highly glamorized, violent, and powerful Āryan male and the three gods represents the ideals of manhood. R̥gvedic poet-priests employ various poetic and performative strategies, some explicit, others less so, in order to construct their masculine ideology as normative, while justfymg it as the most valid way for men to live. For example, Poet-priests naturalize this ideology by encoding it within a man’s sense of his body and physical self. R̥gvedic ritual rhetoric and practices thus encode specific male roles, especially the role of man as warrior, while embedding these roles in a complex network of social, economic, and political relationships.
Magdalena Wong
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9789888528424
- eISBN:
- 9789882203570
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888528424.003.0007
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Gender Studies
The conclusion compares the main features of able-responsible man with representations of the ideal man in different cultural, and transnational, settings. The roles of physical strength and sex are ...
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The conclusion compares the main features of able-responsible man with representations of the ideal man in different cultural, and transnational, settings. The roles of physical strength and sex are considered. There is a critical review of the status of femininity and gender equality in Nanchong, and the culture of emulating exemplary norms in China. Filial piety and a general sense of duty to the nation provide the environment in which the able-responsible man is expected to carry responsibilities for the family, society and nation. Although the hegemonic model identified in Nanchong is coercive and denigrates marginalized men, the nature of the able-responsible man is shown to be essentially positive. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the extent to which the empirical discovery of the able-responsible man is influenced by the ethnographer herself.Less
The conclusion compares the main features of able-responsible man with representations of the ideal man in different cultural, and transnational, settings. The roles of physical strength and sex are considered. There is a critical review of the status of femininity and gender equality in Nanchong, and the culture of emulating exemplary norms in China. Filial piety and a general sense of duty to the nation provide the environment in which the able-responsible man is expected to carry responsibilities for the family, society and nation. Although the hegemonic model identified in Nanchong is coercive and denigrates marginalized men, the nature of the able-responsible man is shown to be essentially positive. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the extent to which the empirical discovery of the able-responsible man is influenced by the ethnographer herself.
Charles van Onselen
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- June 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197568651
- eISBN:
- 9780197583326
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780197568651.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, African History
The logic of the system of oscillating migration—taken as a whole—is best exposed by outlining the contrasting mental, physical and material well-being of workers on the ‘up’ and ‘down’ legs of the ...
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The logic of the system of oscillating migration—taken as a whole—is best exposed by outlining the contrasting mental, physical and material well-being of workers on the ‘up’ and ‘down’ legs of the round trip. The fact that workers on the ‘up’ train were locked into sealed compartments bore testimony to forced ‘recruitment’. Workers going to the mines were relatively fit in physical and mental terms but attracted little attention at stations along the way because they were penniless. This chapter describes how the journey ‘up’ into the Highveld was arduous, slow and physically demanding, but less dangerous than the down journey in terms of rail accidents.Less
The logic of the system of oscillating migration—taken as a whole—is best exposed by outlining the contrasting mental, physical and material well-being of workers on the ‘up’ and ‘down’ legs of the round trip. The fact that workers on the ‘up’ train were locked into sealed compartments bore testimony to forced ‘recruitment’. Workers going to the mines were relatively fit in physical and mental terms but attracted little attention at stations along the way because they were penniless. This chapter describes how the journey ‘up’ into the Highveld was arduous, slow and physically demanding, but less dangerous than the down journey in terms of rail accidents.
