New Books in South Asian Studies

Interviews with Scholars of South Asia about their New Books

Society & Culture
History
1026
Jeremy Black, "Imperial Legacies: The British E...
Professor Black shows the reader how criticisms of the legacy of the British Empire are, in part, criticisms of the reality of American power today.
44 min
1027
Raj Balkaran, "The Goddess and The King in Indi...
Why are myths of the Indian Great Goddess couched in a conversation between a deposed king and forest-dwelling ascetic?
43 min
1028
Muhammad Qasim Zaman, "Islam in Pakistan: A His...
Zaman's book is is a landmark publication in the fields of Religious Studies, modern Islam, South Asian Islam...
101 min
1029
Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad, "In Dialogue with Clas...
Why does the narrative motif of ‘dialogue’ pervade Hindu texts?
51 min
1030
David V. Mason, "The Performative Ground of Rel...
To what extent may we say that religion is a theatrical phenomenon, and that theatre is a religious experience?
51 min
1031
Shonaleeka Kaul, "The Making of Early Kashmir: ...
Kaul upturns many prevalent views about the cultural history of Kashmir...
70 min
1032
Borayin Larios, "Embodying the Vedas: Tradition...
Larios probes the backbone of what makes Hinduism the world’s oldest living tradition: the unbroken chain of transmission of Vedic texts composed over 3,000 years ago, originating circa 1750-1200 BCE...
64 min
1033
Paul J. Kosmin, "Time and Its Adversaries in th...
In the aftermath of Alexander the Great’s conquests, the Seleucid kings ruled a vast territory stretching from Central Asia to Anatolia, Armenia to the Persian Gulf...
70 min
1034
Richa Kaul Padte, "Cyber Sexy: Rethinking Porno...
Parents, teachers, feminists, conservatives, lawyers, the concerned citizen – pornography raises everyone's hackles...
40 min
1035
Discussion of Massive Online Peer Review and Op...
In the information age, knowledge is power. Hence, facilitating the access to knowledge to wider publics empowers citizens and makes societies more democratic...
29 min
1036
Claire Pamment, "Comic Performance in Pakistan:...
Claire Pamment’s book is a fantastic new book centered on the Punjabi folk art of the Bhānd, or comic performance...
52 min
1037
Prakash Shah, "Western Foundations of the Caste...
The Indian caste system is an ancient, pervasive institution of social organization within the subcontinent – or is it?
58 min
1038
Nico Slate, "Lord Cornwallis is Dead: The Strug...
Slate paints a picture of the two countries as learning perpetually from each other...
51 min
1039
Richard Salomon, "The Buddhist Literature of An...
One of the great archeological finds of the 20th century, the Gandhāran Buddhist Texts, dating from the 1st century CE, are the oldest Buddhist manuscripts ever discovered...
55 min
1040
Ethan Mills, "Three Pillars of Skepticism in Cl...
The existence of skepticism in Indian Philosophy has long been neglected in favor of dogmatic positions...
64 min
1041
Gil Ben-Herut, "Śiva’s Saints: The Origins of D...
Studies of Hindu saints tend to focus primarily on the saints themselves—their words, teachings, and practices—rather than tending to the often complex and complicated world of texts and traditions about those saints...
68 min
1042
Caleb Simmons, "Nine Nights of the Goddess: The...
This work maps manifestations of the festival across historical periods and local celebrations over the regions of West Bengal, Odish...
39 min
1043
Richard Gombrich, "Buddhism and Pali" (Mud Pie ...
Far more than just an introductory book, Richard argues not only that the Pali Canon records the words of the Buddha, but that the Buddha himself is responsible for the Pali language...
68 min
1044
B.R. Ambedkar, "Annihilation of Caste: The Anno...
This landmark speech by Dr. B.R. Ambedakar is the pinnacle of his scholarly work and cements his legacy alongside Mahatma Gandhi in Indian politics...
67 min
1045
Mani Rao, "Living Mantra: Mantra, Deity, and Vi...
What role does mantra play in the lives of Hindu practitioners?
61 min
1046
Brannon D. Ingram, "Revival from Below: The Deo...
Through careful analysis of historical textual discourses, Ingram carefully guides his readers through important polemics that manifested amongst the Deoband ‘ulama...
52 min
1047
Chinmay Tumbe, "Moving India: A History of Migr...
Tumbe analyses the interlinked histories of migrations of different communities in and out of India and the world...
41 min
1048
Alf Gunvald Nilsen, "Adivasis and the State: Su...
This longue-durée approach allows Alf Gunvald Nilsen to unravel the Indian state's everyday tyranny against its adivasi citizens...
39 min
1049
Patrick Eisenlohr, "Sounding Islam: Voice, Medi...
Through the exploration of na‘t, or devotional poetic recitations that honor the prophet Muhammad, Eisenlohr captures the sensory dimension of Islam...
37 min
1050
Radhika Govindrajan, "Animal Intimacies: Inters...
Animal Intimacies is a path paving work that combines theoretical innovation and playfulness, ethnographic depth, and profound attunement to capturing the aspirations and tragedies of everyday life through the art of narrative...
52 min