Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Problem of Defining Hinduism

PART I: Definitions of Hinduism

1 Wilhelm Halbfass – The Idea of the Veda and the Identity of Hinduism

2 Julius J. Lipner – Ancient Banyan: An Inquiry in the Meaning of "Hinduness"

PART II: Hinduism in the Precolonial Period

3 David N. Lorenzen – Who invented Hinduism?

4 Will Sweetman – Unity and Plurality: Hinduism and the Religions of India in Early European Scholarship

PART III: Hinduism in the Colonial Period and in Independent India

5 Brian K. Smith – Questioning Authority: Constructions and Deconstructions of Hinduism

6 Robert Eric Frykenberg – Constructions of Hinduism at the Nexus of History and Religion

PART IV: Hinduism and Caste

7 Mary Searle-Chatterjee – "World Religions" and "Ethnic Groups": Do these Paradigms Lend Themselves to the Cause of Hindu Nationalism?

8 Gail Omvedt – Introduction to Dalit Visions

9 Timothy Fitzgerald – Problems with "Religion" as a Category for Understanding Hinduism

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

J. E. Lllewellyn is a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Southwest Missouri State University. He has written two books and a number of articles on the religions of South Asia.

Reviews

'...this book is a useful combination to the academic conversation about Hinduism.' - Rebecca J. Manring, Indiana University, Bloomington