Imagining the East : the early Theosophical Society / edited by Tim Rudbøg and Erik Reenberg Sand.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Reenberg Sand, Erik, editor.

Rudbøg, Tim, editor.

Series:

Oxford studies in Western esotericism

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Theosophical Society (Chennai, India).

Theosophy--History.

Theosophy.

History.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

vi, 384 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2020]

Summary:

"The Theosophical Society (est. 1875 in New York by H. P. Blavatsky, H. S. Olcott and others) is increasingly becoming recognized for its influential role in shaping the alternative new religious and cultural landscape of the late nineteenth and the twentieth century, especially as an early promoter of interest in Indian and Tibetan religions and philosophies. Despite this increasing awareness, many of the central questions relating to the early Theosophical Society and the East remain largely unexplored. This book is the first scholarly anthology dedicated to this topic. It offers many new details about the study of Theosophy in the history of modern religions and Western esotericism. The essays in Imagining the East explore how Theosophists during the formative period understood the East and those of its people with whom they came into contact. The authors examine the relationship of the theosophical approach with orientalism and aspects of the history of ideas, politics, and culture at large and discuss how these esoteric or theosophical representations mirrored conditions and values current in nineteenth-century mainstream intellectual culture. The essays also look at how the early Theosophical Society's imagining of the East differed from mainstream 'orientalism' and how the Theosophical Society's mission in India was distinct from that of British colonialism and Christian missionaries."--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part 1. Approaches to the East. 1. Adventures in "Wisdom-land": Orientalist Discourse in Early Theosophy / Christopher Partridge

2. Orientalist vs. Theosophist / Donald S. Lopez, Jr.

Part 2: Representations of the East. 3. H. P. Blavatsky's Acquaintance with the Language of the Gods / James A. Santucci

4. Early debates in the reception of Buddhism: Theosophy and Esoteric Buddhism / Tim Rudbøg

5. H.P. Blavatsky's early reception of Hindu Philosophy / Tim Rudbøg and Erik Reenberg Sand

6. The Mahatma Letters / Joscelyn Godwin

7. "The real pure Yog": Yoga in the early Theosophical Society and the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor / Patrick D. Bowen

8. Emerging Representations of the East: The Role of Theosophical Periodicals, 1879-1900 / Gillian McCann

9. Theosophy and Modernism: A Shared but Secret History / David Weir

Part 3: Interactions with the East. 10. Theosophy in the Bengal Renaissance / K. Paul Johnson

11. The Marriage between the Theosophical Society and the Arya Samaj / Erik Reenberg Sand

12. The West moves East: Blavatsky's "Universal Brotherhood" in India / Tim Rudbøg

13. Allan Octavian Hume, Madame Blavatsky, and the Foundation of the Indian National Congress / Isaac Lubelsky

14. Theosophy, Cultural Nationalism, and Home Rule / Mark Bevir

15. Experiments with Theosophical Truth: Gandhi, esotericism, and global religious history / Michael Bergunder

Afterword / Tim Rudbøg and Erik Reenberg Sand.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780190853884

0190853883

OCLC:

1110442829

Publisher Number:

99984116910