Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed
A Guide for the Perplexed
Published on 6. June 2013
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-1-4411-9341-4 (ISBN)
Description
Sikhism's short but relatively eventful history provides a fascinating insight into the working of misunderstood and seemingly contradictory themes such as politics and religion, violence and mysticism, culture and spirituality, orality and textuality, public sphere versus private sphere, tradition and modernity. This book presents students with a careful analysis of these complex themes as they have manifested themselves in the historical evolution of the Sikh traditions and the encounter of Sikhs with modernity and the West, in the philosophical teachings of its founders and their interpretation by Sikh exegetes, and in Sikh ethical and intellectual responses to contemporary issues in an increasingly secular and pluralistic world. Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed serves as an ideal guide to Sikhism, and also for students of Asian studies, Sociology of Religion and World Religions.
Reviews / Votes
Sikhism - A Guide for the Perplexed is an insightful and well-crafted introduction to the study of Sikhism as a dynamic and internally fluid tradition. Mandair offers a novel approach in this introductory text that avoids the common pitfalls of historicism and that denaturalizes the tendency to frame Sikhi as purely religious experience within the parameters of the secular-religious binary. Focusing on key issues that reflect what animates Sikh activity and the lived experiences of Sikhs today, Mandair is able to achieve what might seem incommensurable objectives: introducing novices to a field of study, while challenging those already engaged in Sikh Studies with new insights and perspectives. Intriguing and at times provocative, this text will without doubt stand out among introductory texts to Sikhism for its interdisciplinary format, its success in engaging readers intellectually, and its capacity to actively relate ideas from the history and philosophy of religion in a way in which the encounter between these disciplines and Sikhi as an emerging philosophy and way of life remains always in sight. -- Michael Nijhawan, Associate Professor of Sociology, York University, CanadaMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
497 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4411-9341-4 (9781441193414)
DOI
CBID158829
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair is an Associate Professor and holder of the S.B.S.C. Endowed Chair in Sikh Studies at the University of Michigan, USA. His earlier books include: Religion and the Specter of the West: Sikhism, India, Postcoloniality and the Politics of Translation (2009), Teachings of the Sikh Gurus (with Christopher Shackle, 2005), Secularism and Religion-Making (2009). He is a founding editor of the journal Sikh Formations: Religion, Culture and Theory.
Content
Acknowledgements \ Introduction \ Part I: Evolution of the Sikh Tradition \ 1. Guru Nanak and His Early Successors \ 2. Martyrdom and Militancy: Rise of the Khalsa \ 3. Modernity and Colonialism \ Part II: Teachings and Practices \ 4. Way of Life \ 5. Sikh Philosophy \ Part III: Pluralism & its Challenges \ 6. Sikh Ethics \ 7. Sikhs and the Public Sphere \ Glossary of Punjabi Terms \ Notes \ Index