Author: Eminent Contributors
Editor(s): Pashaura Singh / N Gerald Barrier
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2004
Language: English
Pages: 280
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0195667085
Description
This collection of representative essays covers a wide range of issues that define the contours of contemporary Sikh studies and is a major contribution to the field. Each essay explores a dimension of what constitutes modern Sikhism-the central concerns of a Sikh identity as well as the realities of the Sikh diaspora.
The analyses highlight central Sikh concepts, symbols and practices a s they evolved over time, the enduring importance of the teachings of the Gurus and their relation to contemporary influences on Sikhism. The essays explores the conscious codification of Sikh precepts during the Singh Sabha period and the relationship between religious formations like the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee. The doctrinal issues involving the authority of texts like the Dasam Granth and debates over authorship are also explored. In this context, the discipline also explored,. In this context, the discipline also recognizes the need for a methodology equipped with tools that approach historical sources carefully, as in the instance of poetic writings in Persian.
This multidimensional volume highlights the contributions of the leading Sikh studies scholar W H McLeod and brings together both authorities in the discipline and young scholars including Pashaura Singh, N Gerald Barrier, Nikki-Guninder Kaur Singh, Louis E Fenech, robin Reinhart, Tony Ballantyne, Doris Jakobsh, Arthur Helweg, and Darshan S Tatla. It will be useful to scholars, students, and the general reader interested in issues related to the history of Sikhism and questions of identity formation of communities.
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
SECTION ONE
Introduction -I
The Contribution of Professor W H McLeod in the Field of Sikh Studies
Introduction-II
Sikhism in the Light of History
Keynote Speech
Researching the Rahit
Response to Keynote Speech
SECTION TWO
Mythic Inheritance and the historic Drink of the Khalsa
Sikh Identity in the Light of History a Dynamic Perspective
Bhai Nand Lal Goya and the Sikh Tradition
Strategies for Interpreting the Dasam Granth
Maharaja Dalip Singh, History, and the Negotiation of Sikh Identity
What is in a Name?
Circumscribing Sikh Female Nomenclature
Authority, politics, and Contemporary Sikhism
The Akal Takht, the SGPC, Rahit Maryada, and the Law
Ethnic dynamics within a Transnational Framework
The Case of the Sikh Diaspora
Writing Prejudice
The Image of Sikhs in Bharati Mukherjee's Writings
Bio-bibliographical Notes on Contributors