RLB18 Acculturation of Hinduism in the Czech Lands

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2010
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Milan Fujda, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Dušan Lužný, Dr.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Lucie Čelková
Timetable
Mon 11:40–13:15 B12
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of lectures and seminars is to show – on the example of Czech cultural context - in what particular conditions the so called Hindu religion could become acculturated in Europe. The course concerns with questions of the socio-cultural transformations implied by modernization process, and of the influence of these transformations on the religious life in both, Europe and in India, where European modernity had been exported due to colonialism. On one hand I try to show, how Indian traditions must have been transformed to become “attractive” for Westerners. On the other hand I try to show what social/cultural transformations made an acculturation of foreign relegions possibel in spite of the absence of a direct cultural contact.
At the end of this course, students should:
discusse the cultural and social conditions of the acculturation of foreign religious traditions in the context of the 19th and 20th century Europe (particularly Czech lands);
review and evaluate literature on the topic;
propose research questions in this field;
apply these insights in his own studies of European reception of foreign cultural elements of whatever origin.
Syllabus
  • (0) Organizational meeting; (1) Religion, the Reading Culture, Urbanization, Secularization; (2) Modern West and the Discovery of India: the Oriental Renaissance; (3) Orientalism, Bengal Renaissance and Neohinduism; (4) Czechs and India: Beginnings of Oriental Studies and the National Emancipation Ideology; (5) Czech Oriental Renaissance: From Čupr to occultism; (6) Occultism as Modern Religion: Esoteric Tradition, Causal Racionality and the Rise of Middle-Class; (7) Occultism, Orientalism, Christianity and Science; (8) Mystical Occultism: Theosophical Society; (9) Magical occultism: the Unconscious, Animal Magnetism and “Oriental Magic”; (10) Karel Weinfurter: Occultism and Christian Alchemy; (11) Beginnings of the Ramakrishna's Tradition in Czechia; (12) Summary and Conclusion: Vivekananda, Modernity and Hinduismu for the West.
Literature
  • KING, Richard. Orientalism and religion : postcolonial theory, India and "the mystic East". London: Routledge, 1999, viii, 283. ISBN 0415202582. info
  • Western esotericism and the science of religion : selected papers presented at the 17th Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions, Mexico City 1995. Edited by Antoine Faivre - W. J. Hanegraaff. Leuven: Peeters, 1998, xvii, 309. ISBN 9042906308. info
  • Karma and rebirth : post classical developments. Edited by Ronald W. Neufeldt. 1st Indian ed. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1995, xv, 357. ISBN 817030430X. info
  • FAIVRE, Antoine. Access to Western esotericism. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994, x, 369. ISBN 0791421783. info
  • GODWIN, Joscelyn. The theosophical enlightenment. New York: State University of New York Press, 1994, xiii, 448. ISBN 079142152X. info
Teaching methods
Seminar discussions, homeworks (document analyses and writing).
Assessment methods
Written essay, oral colloquium in the form of a small conference with essay presentation and discussion with colleagues.
Requirements for colloquium:
1. Students should submit an essay on whatever related topic in appropriate length of conference paper (cca 4-8 pages [1 p=1800 characters]). The essay is short but ought to be well elaborated with theoretical concern (not mere description). Essay must be submitted 72 hrs before colloquium (date of colloquium will be announced).
2. Oral discussion on the essay (colloquium).
3. Alternative choice to essay is a publishable (in Sacra for example) review of some secondary source. Other conditions are same as in case of essay.
4. Active participation is demanded. Active participation means active participation in discussion on prescribed literature during the seminars or, in case of absence submission of synopsis (1 page/3 paragraphs). Synopsis should be short and clear again and contain: a) clear expression of author's idea, b) analysis and evaluation of his argument and its support, and c) formulation of student's position.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo religionistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučujícího.
Teacher's information
https://is.muni.cz/auth/el/1421/jaro2008/RLB18/op/sylabus_and_reading-AHCZ_ang_spring2008_dates.pdf?fakulta=1421;obdobi=3704;kod=RLB18
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2005, Spring 2007, Spring 2008.
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