TUTORIAL: NEWS ARTICLE ANALYSIS DRAFT

Feb 2

Dr. Ian Phillip Brown (he/him/his)

(Ian is preferred)

OUTLINE

• Review homework

• Tools (citations guide, example)

• Formal requirements

• Summary, critical analysis, engagement with course

• Review example

HOMEWORK: SELECTION OF A NEWS ARTICLE

• Some misunderstanding

• News articles must be published from reputable news publication: CBC, CNN, Al-Jazeera, etc.

• Do not use blogs

• Do not use academic articles

• The goal is to see how religion is being presented to a reading public

HOMEWORK: PROPOSED ANALYSIS

• Propose 3 ways to analyze article with direct reference to material we have learned in class

• Proposed analyses could: help answer questions about the article, or help us think about the article in new ways

• Goal of analysis is to demonstrate your own learning

CITATIONS GUIDE

• We are using Chicago author-date citations which look like this:

• Open bracket, last name and date of publication, comma page referenced, close bracket, period.

• (Bell 2005, 7848).

• The period that ends your sentence always comes after your citation, even if your quote contains the end of a sentence.

• To cite lecture in text, please provide the following:

• (Brown 2022, date of lecture). For example: (Brown 2022, Oct 5)

FORMAL REQUIREMENTS

• Must include title page and rubric, copy from URCourses

• Must be submitted as doc, docx, or PDF

• Must be size 12, Times or Times New Roman

• Double-spaced

• Pages numbered

• See rubric for requirements

SUMMARY, PROPOSED ANALYSIS

• Summary of article is clear and concise

• Does not contain any analysis or commentary

• Turn bullet points from homework into paragraph

• Proposed analysis uses information or theories from the class and readings. Evidence. Reasoning.

HINDUISM

Feb 2

Dr. Ian Phillip Brown (he/him/his)

(Ian is preferred)

COURSE BUSINESS

• Adjust schedule

• We are now one week behind

• Might try to catch up in Religion in Popular Culture section

• If not, our last class will be Islam in Pop Culture and exam review

LAST CLASS

• Introduction to Hinduism as a category

• Vedic society, Indus Valley, and the Vedas

• Shruti (that which has been heard) and Smriti (that which has been remembered)

TODAY

• Beliefs and practices

• Hinduism, India, and other religions

• Ramayana as myth

• Colonialism

• Hindu nationalism

BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

• Samsara

• Yugas

• Karma

• Moksha

• Guna

SAMSARA AND

YUGAS

• Samsara

• Time is cyclical, no beginning or end

• “Anadhi” “without beginning” refers to nature of the universe

• Yugas

• Eras

• The world passes through 4 yugas

• World degrades as time passes

• We are in the Kali yuga (final stage before destruction)

THREE GUNAS

• “Guna” literally means “thread” or “quality”

• Gunas categorize elements of the world

• Gunas can be thought of as qualities of the mind and the body

SATTVA

• “being” or “existence”

• Refers to the real, true, good, and virtuous

• It is a purely positive quality

• In humans: A sattvic person is healthy, calm, clear, and self controlled

• In foods: fruits, most vegetables, beans, and nuts

RAJAS

• Activity, energy, passion, dynamism

• In people: mobile, driven, active, frenetic, needy, bold, arrogant, hostile

• In food: usually stimulants and include coffee, tea, sugar drinks, chocolate, spicy food, and food that is bitter or sour

TAMAS

• Darkness, inertia, lethargy, ignorance

• In people: heavy, ignorant, sleepy, lazy, confused, and indifferent

• In food: foods that make us dull and heavy; meat, garlic, onions, and spoiled food

THE GUNAS AND THE WORLD

• The world of matter and energy is made up of these three threads

• All three exist in all things in greater or lesser proportion

• Individual people possess these qualities in different combinations

KARMA

• World of samsara governed by karma

• Means “action”

• Doctrine of karma a doctrine of consequence: human actions have consequences

• Individuals are the sum total of their actions

• Karma stays over multiple lifetimes

MOKSHA

• Goal of Hinduism

• Humans cannot achieve happiness in physical and material ways

• Release from samsara

• How does one obtain this?

FOUR GOALS OF A HINDU LIFE

• Hinduism promotes the attainment of four goals

• Dharma (virtue and order)

• Artha (wealth and success)

• Kama (pleasure)

• Moksha (release)

DHARMA

• Requires living an ethical life

ARTHA

• Means achieving success in terms of both wealth and power

• Being wealthy and powerful is good and desirable

KAMA

• Pleasure of various kinds

• Includes:

• Art

• Music

• Literature

• Sexual intercourse

KAMA SUTRA

• Discusses pleasures of the flesh

• Also discusses music, dance, and sensuality

MOKSHA

• Requires turning away from the first three

THREE PATHS IN HINDUISM

• Three paths that lead to the same goal, attaining moksha

• Path of Knowledge

• Path of Action

• Path of Devotion

• Most Hindus follow a combination of the three paths

JNANA MARGA: PATH OF KNOWLEDGE

• Emerges from earliest Hindu texts, Vedas and especially the Upanishads

• Seeks an “intuitive knowledge of truth” to effect moksha

• More than technical or even philosophical knowledge

KARMA MARGA: PATH OF ACTION

• Focuses on dharma: correct, selfless action

• Rules of dharma encompass rules of caste behaviour

BHAKTI MARGA: PATH OF

DEVOTION

• Marked by strong individual attachment to a personal deity

• Goddess or God

• Basic goal to nurture love within ones self and direct it to a deity

• Bhakti movements often social movements that aim to dissolve hierarchical social structures

• Only requirement for this path is a love of god

HINDUISM AND INDIA

• Hinduism not a proselytizing religion

• Does not seek to convert people

• Respects all religions as aspects of one Supreme Spirit/Truth

• Vast majority of Hindus live in India

• About 1 billion Hindus in India

• c. 80% of India’s population

• 88% of all Hindus

HINDUISM OUTSIDE OF INDIA

• 60-70 million Hindus live outside of India

• Largest population: Nepal, c. 23.5 million, apr. 83% of the population

• 2.3 million in US (c. 2015)

• 500,000 in Canada (c. 2011)

HINDUISM AND INDIA… AGAIN

• Hinduism began in Indus Valley

• Spread through subcontinent

• Hinduism remains tied to Indian subcontinent

HINDUISM OUTSIDE OF INDIA

• Land and sea trade took Hinduism outside of India

• North into China

• Southeast into Singapore

• West into Persia, Arabia, and Mediterranean

HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM

• Buddhism emerged in India from Hinduism (as we shall see)

• Buddhism had large presence in India from about 300 BCE-900CE

• Buddhist Emperors ruled India for much of this period

• Buddhism and Hinduism often intertwined in beliefs and practices

• Buddhism all but disappeared from India by 11th century CE

• Currently apr. 8.5 million Buddhists in India (.7%) of population

HINDUISM AND ISLAM

• Islam arrived in India early on (7thcentury CE)

• Various Muslim groups ruled northern India from 8th to 19th centuries

• Most organized; the Mughal Empire (1526-1857)

• Mughal empire declined and was replaced by British Raj

• More on Wednesday

MYTH AND MODERNITY: RAMAYANA

RAMAYANA

• Composed first half first millennium BCE

• Takes places hundreds of thousands of years before present (mythic past)

• 25,000 verses, twice as long as the Iliad and Odyssey put together

• Long history of oral transmission

• At present two main versions in many different languages

• Significant in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, and Islamic cultures of South and Southeast Asia

RAMA

• Avatar of Vishnu

• Son of the King, heir to throne

• Husband of Sita

SITA

• Avatar of Lakshmi

• Wife of Rama, accompanies him in exile

LAKSHMAN

• (far right, Rama far left, Sita middle)

• Brother of Rama

• Accompanies him in exile

• Tries to protect Sita

HANUMAN

• Monkey

• Devotee of Rama

• Vanara (forest people)

RAVANA

• (Demon?) king of Lanka

• Kidnaps Sita

• Goes to war with Rama and Vanara

THE STORY (CLIFF’S

NOTES OF 25,000 VERSE

POEM)

• Rama marries Sita

• Rama is exiled, Sita goes into exile with him

• Sita is kidnapped

• Rama rescues Sita

• Rama accuses Sita of being unfaithful during kidnapping

• Sita proves that she was faithful but undertaking test by fire

THE STORY (CLIFF’S

NOTES OF 25,000 VERSE

POEM)

• They return after 14 years and Rama is declared king

• Rama’s subjects question Sita’s purity

• A pregnant Sita is exiled to live with an ascetic

• She gives birth to two sons

• Rama seeks reconciliation with Sita, but she calls upon her mother the earth goddess who opens and receives her into the earth

IMPORTANT THEMES

• Kingship

• Rama is presented as the ideal ruler

• He obeys his father unconditionally

• He puts the needs of his people ahead of his own

IMPORTANT THEMES

• Wife/Womanhood

• Sita is the ideal wife and woman

• She goes with Rama in exile

• She maintains her purity while kidnapped

• She undergoes tests to confirm her purity

• She leaves when her presence causes Rama’s subjects distress

SIGNIFICANCE

• Reverence for Rama

• Worshipped as a virtuous leader who upholds the dharma, sometimes at great cost to himself (exiling Sita)

• Reverence for Sita

• She is the ideal woman and wife

GENDER AND SEXUALITY

• Can reinforce patriarchal attitudes

• Sita subordinated and unquestioning of her husband

• Abandonment of Sita a controversial aspect not included in some versions of the poem

RAMAYANA AS MYTH

• Myths: stories that are meaningful to people

• Making myths is one way that people construct, authorize, and contest their social identities

• Rama and Sita represent ideals of masculine power and subservient womanhood (social identities)

• Re-tellings of the Ramayana can reinscribe and authorize social identities, or contest social identities

• Ramayan 1987-88

• Television show that tells the story of the Ramayana

• Most watched show in India

• Revived Hindu nationalism

• Broke with India’s historical taboo by broadcasting a “religious” epic on a nationally owned TV channel

RAMAYAN 1987-88 AS MYTH

• Re-inscribed and authorized Hindu nationalism

• Presented Rama and Sita as ideals

BABRI MOSQUE

• 16th century mosque in Ayodhya (birth-place of Ram)• Alleged to have been built

over temple to Ram• Destroyed by BJP mob in

1992

By Samuel Bourne[1][2] (1834–1912) -http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/138760/unknown-maker-babri-masjid-faizabad-english-about-1863-1887/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92934970

RAMAYAN, POWER, NATIONALISM

• Nationalism: Ramayan a Hindu and Indian story

• Power: Presents Hinduism as natural (only?) religion of India

• Ramayan co-opted by pro-Hindu anti-Muslim sentiments in India

• Hindu’s powerful majority, Muslims persecuted minority

COLONIALISM AND HINDU NATIONALISM

CASTE SYSTEM

DALIT (UNTOUCHABLE)

• A class outside of the twice born upper four• Believed to be ritually impure, and therefor

“untouchable”• Gandhi renamed them “Harijan” (people of

God)• Apr. 16% of India’s population

ORIGINS OF CASTE SYSTEM

• Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas are all mentioned in early Vedic texts

• Shudras are distinguished from Vaishyas in later Vedic texts

• Vedic texts do not mention untouchable people, and Dalits may actually be a colonial category

COLONIALISM AND CASTE

• British reinforced caste system with caste-based censuses

• (re)enforced caste hierarchy for purpose of governance and colonial control

• Divide colonized people against one another

CASTE TODAY

• It is illegal to discriminate based on caste

• Caste-based discrimination is still extremely common

• Marriages across caste lines extremely uncommon

BRITISH RAJ

• Britain colonized India c. 1858-1947• Colony of occupation: British set up native systems of governance but

maintain minimal military and administrative population • Trade occurred before colonization, but Britain used military force to

take over/establish government• This is the period where we get “world religions” and “Hinduism” as

categories of European thought• British largely abstained from trying to convert people to Christianity• British did* affect/invent understandings of caste in Hinduism

COLONIAL PERIOD (1858-1947)

• Saw Britain attempt to assert dominion over Indian subcontinent

• Massively enriched Britain through exploitation of natural resources

• Some conversions to Christianity

• Colonial period ended with partition of India and Pakistan

Koh-i-Noor in cross of Queen Mary's Crown

PARTITION OF INDIA1947

• Northwest India was majority Muslim with a Hindu and Sikh minority

• Rest of India was majority Hindu with a Muslim minority

• Partition saw creation of Dominion of Pakistan as a majority Muslim country, and Union of India as a majority Hindu country

Image from WikiCommons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Partition_of_India_1947_en.svg

PARTITION OF INDIA1947

• Partition involved migration of millions of Hindus living in soon-to-be Pakistan, and millions of Muslims living in soon-to-be India

• Violence accompanied the partition

• At least several hundred thousand, as many a 2 million people died

Image from WikiCommons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Partition_of_India_1947_en.svg

PARTITION OF INDIA1947

• 1.3 million Muslims who were leaving India never made it to Pakistan

• 800,000 Hindus leaving Pakistan never made it to India

• The violence of the partition has set tone for conflict between Pakistan and India to this day

Image from WikiCommons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Partition_of_India_1947_en.svg

INDIA AS A SECULAR STATE

• Partition of India and Pakistan done on grounds of religion: Hindu and Muslim

• Still, India theoretically a secular state

• The largest secular state in the world

• Significant Hindu Nationalist groups in India

HINDUTVA: HINDU NATIONALISM

• Hindutva, made popular in 1920s, focused on defining a racial Hindu identity, “demarcating a vulnerable Hindu majority from a threatening Muslim majority and promoting Hindu cohesion and violent opposition to threats as the path to ‘greatness’” (Chacko 2019, 382-383)

• Shaped by anti-colonial-nationalism

• Imagined the state as an agent of morality or dharma

CURRENT GOVERNMENT: BJP

• Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

• Holds right wing and Hindu nationalist positions (Hindutva)

• Formed with base of lower-middle-class Hindu nationalist

• In 1980s attracted news middle-class support

• unified conflicting classes by promising stability, order, and discipline targeting “an identifiable, threatening ‘Other’ in religious minority groups, particularly Muslims” (Chacko 2019, 392)

RELIGION, NATIONALISM, POLITICS

• BJP’s policy generally neo-liberal: stimulate growth in private corporate sector, produce economic growth while reducing funding for rights-based welfare programs

• Keys to neo-liberalism: faith in markets, aspirational middle-class, unemployment rates high enough to keep wages down

• Classes that support BJP have different interests: lower classes harmed by defunding of welfare-state

• BJP base galvanized through Hindu nationalism and anti-Muslim racism

CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT

ACT (CAA)

• BJP passed Act in Dec 2019, went into effect Jan 2020

• CAA grants citizenship to currently illegal migrants from Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian communities who entered India before 2014 to flee religious persecution in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (majority Muslim countries)

• Who’s missing from this list?

DISCRIMINATION BASED ON RELIGION

• First time religion used as criterion for citizenship under India law

• Discriminates against Muslims

• Excludes persecuted minorities from Tibet, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar

• Would render Muslims who lost documentation in partition stateless

• Is being protested by Indian people of all religions

HOMEWORK

• Review the textbook chapter’s section on Hindu deities (pages125-129)

• Write a brief description of one deity including basic information about them and why they are important in Hinduism

• Use at least one direct quotation from the chapter

• Using the citations guide, properly cite both your paraphrased material and direct quotes