Frivolity isn’t always frivolous—sometimes it can be sacred.
Sacred Play uncovers levity and playfulness in a variety of South Asian traditions where one might least expect to find it: in the heart of ritual. While stories recounting the antics of various South Asian deities circulate widely, this enlightening book intentionally departs from divinity-centered humor to focus on the playfulness of humans and their religious practices. This grassroots levity is both serious and lighthearted; it can be highly scripted or spontaneous and cast in shades of light or dark humor. Case studies of Hindu, Muslim, Christian, and Buddhist rituals examine instances of levity that challenge social or religious norms, in which mischievous deities inspire similar behavior among their devotees, and where playful competition incites serious consequences.
Sacred Play explores how piety and levity can complement and complicate one another, enriching our understanding of both.
Selva J. Raj (1952–2008) was Chair and Stanley S. Kresge Professor of Religious Studies at Albion College. His books include Dealing with Deities: The Ritual Vow in South Asia, also published by SUNY Press, and South Asian Christian Diaspora: Invisible Diaspora in Europe and North America. Corinne G. Dempsey is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. She is author of Kerala Christian Sainthood: Collisions of Culture and Worldview in South India and The Goddess Lives in Upstate New York: Breaking Convention and Making Home at a North American Hindu Temple. Together they coedited Popular Christianity in India: Riting between the Lines and Miracle as Modern Conundrum in South Asian Religious Traditions, both also published by SUNY Press.
Cuprins
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction: Ritual Levity in South Asian Traditions
Selva J. Raj and Corinne Dempsey
PART 1. Laughing Inside Out: Playful Breaks with Convention
2. Serious Levity at the Shrine of St. Anne in South India
Selva J. Raj
3. Don’t Take It Badly, It’s Holi: Ritual Levity, Society, and Agriculture
A. Whitney Sanford
4. Playing the Married Lady: Primary Marriage among the Newars of Nepal
Liz Wilson
PART 2. Gods and Humans at Play: Religious Humor and Divine Intimacy
5. The “Artful Trick”: Challenging Convention through Play in Upstate New York
Corinne Dempsey and Sudharshan Durayappah
6. Friendship, Humor, Levity, and Love in a Hindu Women’s Ritual Tradition
Tracy Pintchman
7. Laughing until It Hurts . . . Somebody Else: The Pain of a Ritual Joke
William P. Harman
8. Gods’ Play and the Buddha’s Way: Varieties of Levity in Contemporary Sinhala Practice
Jonathan Walters
PART 3. Playing to Win: Edging Out the Competition
9. Playing with Durga in Bengal
Rachel Fell Mc Dermott
10. Turning Karbala Inside Out: Humor and Ritual Critique in South Asian Muharram Rites
Amy C. Bard
11. A Catholic Charismatic Healer at Play in North India
Mathew N. Schmalz
12 Response
Jonathan Z. Smith
List of Contributors
Index
Despre autor
Selva J. Raj (1952–2008) was Chair and Stanley S. Kresge Professor of Religious Studies at Albion College. His books include
Dealing with Deities: The Ritual Vow in South Asia, also published by SUNY Press, and
South Asian Christian Diaspora: Invisible Diaspora in Europe and North America.
Corinne G. Dempsey is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. She is author of
Kerala Christian Sainthood: Collisions of Culture and Worldview in South India and
The Goddess Lives in Upstate New York: Breaking Convention and Making Home at a North American Hindu Temple. Together Raj and Dempsey coedited
Popular Christianity in India: Riting between the Lines and
Miracle as Modern Conundrum in South Asian Religious Traditions, both also published by SUNY Press.
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