This edited volume seeks to build a scholarly discourse about how Hinduism is being defined, reformed, and rearticulated in the digital era and how these changes are impacting the way Hindus view their own religious identities. It seeks to interrogate how digital Hinduism has been shaped in response to the dominant framing of the religion, which has often relied on postcolonial narratives devoid of context and an overemphasis on the geopolitics of the Indian subcontinent post-partition. From this perspective, this volume challenges previous frameworks of how Hinduism has been studied, particularly in the West, where Marxist and Orientalist approaches are often ill-fitting paradigms to understanding Hinduism. This volume engages with and critiques some of these approaches while also enriching existing models of research within media studies, ethnography, cultural studies, and religion.
This edited volume seeks to build a scholarly discourse about how Hinduism is being defined, reformed, and rearticulated in the digital era and how these changes are impacting the way Hindus view their own religious identities. It seeks to interrogate how digital Hinduism has been shaped in response to the dominant framing of the religion, which has often relied on postcolonial narratives devoid of context and an overemphasis on the geopolitics of the Indian subcontinent post-partition. From this perspective, this volume challenges previous frameworks of how Hinduism has been studied, particularly in the West, where Marxist and Orientalist approaches are often ill-fitting paradigms to understanding Hinduism. This volume engages with and critiques some of these approaches while also enriching existing models of research within media studies, ethnography, cultural studies, and religion.
Introduction: Digital Paths to the Divine? New Media, Hinduism, and
the Transformation of Dharmic Discourse and Practice, Murali
Balaji
Part I
Chapter 1: The Significance of Non-Participatory Digital Religion:
The Saiva Siddhanta Church and the Development of a Global
Hinduism, Heinz Scheifinger
Chapter 2: The Formation of Online Religious Identities: A Case
Study of the Internet-Hindu in India’s Cyberspace, Denzil
Chetty
Chapter 3: From Newsgroups to #hashtags: Mapping Pattern of Online
Hindu Religious Practices, K.S. Arul Selvan
Part II
Chapter 4: Mirabai Sings on YouTube: The Transmission of a
Poet-Saint in the Age of Digital Devotion, Lakshmi Chandrashekar
Subramanian
Chapter 5: Creating Spaces for Progressive Voices in Hinduism: My
Experience with the Queer Hindu Blogosphere, Shikhandi
Part III
Chapter 6: Dharma Deen Alliance: Cyber Resistance and Building
Online Hindu-Muslim Unity, Ravi Grover
Chapter 7: #Hinduphobia: Hate Speech, Bigotry, and Oppression of
Hindus through the Internet, Sachi Edwards
Chapter 8: Digital Divide, Diasporic Identity, and a Spiritual
Upgrade, Charu Uppal
Chapter 9: Digitalizing the Diasporic Subaltern: How Caribbean
Hinduism Is Preserved through the Web, Murali Balaji
Conclusion: Digital Dilemmas and New Paradigms in Digital Dharma,
Murali Balaji
Murali Balaji is director of education and curriculum reform for the Hindu American Foundation (HAF).
Digital Hinduism helps to legitimize a relatively new
conversation in religious studies. Because the subfield of digital
religious studies is still being defined and studies on the
intersection of new media and religion are burgeoning, particularly
within Hindu studies, this collection of essays brings further
insight to a fairly new area of study. . . . This collection has
many strengths. Almost every essay provides a wealth of information
on technology and how accessible that technology may be to various
communities. Additionally, many different topics relating to the
formation of an online Hindu identity are represented. An effort
was clearly made to bring a diversity of voices into the
conversation. . . On the whole, this collection provides a
wide-ranging survey of digital Hinduism.
*Reading Religion*
Like any other living and vibrant tradition, Hinduism continues to
adapt to changing circumstances and contexts, including the rise of
the internet. This important volume–a fine addition to the
Explorations in Indic Traditions series–gives a sense of the
diverse ways in which Hinduism is present in cyberspace. From
advocacy for Hindu rights to the expression of progressive Hindu
perspectives to such traditional activities as puja carried out
online, this book chronicles the rise of internet Hinduism and does
so in a clear and engaging fashion.
*Jeffery D. Long, Elizabethtown College*
This book is a rich collection of diverse voices that deepen our
understanding of Hindu traditions in this fluid era of
globalization and digitalization, including, but moving beyond, the
Indian subcontinent. Each essay opens a new window to the complex
ways in which this global tradition is transforming and being
transformed by media. It is a much needed addition to a new field
in the study of religion.
*Anantanand Rambachan, St. Olaf College*
Hinduism has long been viewed as a timeless religion, but the
reality is that it has always been shaped by its historical,
cultural, and political context. As Hinduism encounters modernity,
its technological landscape has shifted dramatically, thereby
transforming the way that Hinduism is conceptualized and consumed
across generations and continents. A critical and timely volume,
Digital Hinduism is a must-read for anyone interested in
understanding the future of Hinduism.
*Varun Soni, Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern
California*
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