Pious flames : European encounters with sati, 1500-1830 / by Andrea Major.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Major, Andrea.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sati--Public opinion--History.

Sati.

Public opinion--Europe--History.

Public opinion.

Orientalism--History.

Orientalism.

History.

Europe.

Physical Description:

x, 258 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New Delhi : Oxford University Press, 2006.

Summary:

The volume interprets the influential early nineteenth-century debate on Sati by placing it in the context of a varied tradition of heterogeneous and ambivalent western responses to the rite. By tracing the shifting interpretations of this custom found in European accounts, it demonstrates how changing representations of Indian society and culture were interwoven with socio-ideological trends and concerns in the observer's own society.

Contents:

1. Re-orienting sati

2. Strange and beastly deeds: early European encounters with sati

3. Pious principles: sati, orientalism, and enlightenment

4. Infernal scenes: sati and the spectacle of suffering

5. Infatuated creatures: women, suicide, and madness

6. Inveterate prejudices: sati and religion

7. Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [232]-248) and index.

ISBN:

9780195678185

0195678184

OCLC:

71341265

Online:

Publisher description