The series Religion and Society (RS) contributes to the exploration of religions as social systems both in Western and non-Western societies; in particular, it examines religions in their differentiation from, and intersection with, other cultural systems, such as art, economy, law and politics. Due attention is given to paradigmatic case or comparative studies that exhibit a clear theoretical orientation with the empirical and historical data of religion and such aspects of religion as ritual, the religious imagination, constructions of tradition, iconography, or media. In addition, the formation of religious communities, their construction of identity, and their relation to society and the wider public are key issues of this series.
In Hindu India both orality and sonality have enjoyed great cultural significance since earliest times. They have a distinct influence on how people approach texts. The importance of sound and its perception has led to rites, models of cosmic order, and abstract formulas. Sound serves both to stimulate religious feelings and to give them a sensory form. Starting from the perception and interpretation of sound, the authors chart an unorthodox cultural history of India, turning their attention to an important, but often neglected aspect of daily religious life. They provide a stimulating contribution to the study of cultural systems of perception that also adds new aspects to the debate on orality and literality.
The audio samples, originally included to the book as a music CD, can be downloaded from this website under "Supplementary Materials".
Hinduism as a Culture of Sound - The Veda as a Basic Paradigm for Sacred Language and Sacred Sound - Composition and Decomposition: Post-Vedic Sacred Literature and Formation of Analytical Studies - The Diversity of Sonic Representation Systems - Pluralism and the Search for Orientation: Acrobats of Language in Poetics, Hermeneutics and Metaphysics - Performance and Sensuality: The Sound Universes of Tantra and Devotionalism - Continuities, Breaks, Re-codification: The Merging of Traditions in the "Sound-Brahman" (Nada-Brahman) and Their Modern Forms in Bollywood - The Logic of Scripture and the Logic of Sound: Concluding Remarks on Media, Hierarchies of Perception and Religious Aesthetics
Annette Wilke and Oliver Moebus, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany.
