
Visualizing Space in Banaras
Images, Maps, and the Practice of Representation
Harrassowitz Verlag
1st Edition
Published on 23. June 2006
Book
Hardback
358 pages
978-3-447-05187-3 (ISBN)
Description
The city of Banaras is widely known as a unique, impressive and particularly ancient historical place. But for many it is above all a universal, cosmic, and in a sense timeless sacred space. Both of these seemingly contrasting depictions contribute to how the city is experienced by its inhabitants or visitors, and there is a great variety of sometimes competing views: Kasi the Luminous, the ancient Crossing, the city of Death, the place of Hindu-Muslim encounter and syncretism, the cosmopolitan centre of learning, etc. The present volume deals with the multiple ways this urban site is visualized, imagined, and culturally represented by different actors and groups. The forms of visualizations are manifold and include buildings, paintings, drawings, panoramas, photographs, traditional and modern maps, as well as verbal and mental images. The major focus will thus be on visual media, which are of special significance for the representation of space. But this cannot be divorced from other forms of expressions which are part of the local life-world ("Lebenswelt"). The contributions look at local as well as exogenous constructions of the rich topography of Kasi and show that these imaginations and constructions are not static but always embedded in social and cultural practices of representation, often contested and never complete.
More details
Series
Edition
1., Aufl.
Language
English
Place of publication
Wiesbaden
Germany
Target group
Religionswissenschaftler, Historiker, Kunsthistoriker, Anthropolgen, Indologen
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
94 Abb.
Dimensions
Height: 24 cm
Width: 17 cm
Weight
800 gr
ISBN-13
978-3-447-05187-3 (9783447051873)
Schweitzer Classification