RLB267 Colonialism and Religion

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2009
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 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
Thu 16:40–18:15 G24
Prerequisites (in Czech)
RLA01 Introduction to Religion || RLKA01 Introduction to Religion
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/50, only registered: 0/50
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to introduce students to the issue of the historical process of construing "religion". Social and political implications of the use of this concept in the colonial context will be analysed. Power relations implicite in concepts of "religion", "world religions" and another concepts in colonial discourses will be analysed using examples from colonial representation of India, Indians and Hinduism.
At the end of the course students should be able to:
describe history of theoretical constructing "religion" and "world religions";
identify presuppositions on which various conceptualizations of religion are based;
analyse some power relations in colonial discoursive representations of India, Indians, and Hinduism;
formulate principal questions concerning the conceptualizations of religion in colonial India;
evaluate the discussion on constructing Hinduism as religion presented in S. N. Balagangadhara's Heathen in His Blindness.
Syllabus
  • 0. Organizational meeting.
  • 1. Introduction: Social consequences of using "religion" in colonial context.
  • 2. What is religion? Dicsussion on the text of Tomoko Masuzawa.
  • 3. "World Religions": Constructing religious traditions of the world.
  • 4. The heritage of Comparative Theology.
  • 5. Comparative Linguistics and the European history.
  • 6. Creation of religion in the modern West and the romantization of the past.
  • 7. "A religion": Constructing the concept.
  • 8. "Religion" in 17th and 18th century: Presuppositions of Enlightenment.
  • 9. Mysticism and the logic of exclusion in the Study of Religions.
  • 10. Vivekanada and the counter-construction of "Hinduism" in colonial situation.
  • 11. Gender stereotypes and the discourse of colonialism.
  • 12. Discussion on students' essays.
Literature
  • BALAGANGADHARA, S. N. "The Heathen in His Blindness...". Asian, the West and the Dynamic of Religion. 2nd. New Delhi: Mnohar, 2005. info
  • MASUZAWA, Tomoko. The Invention of World Religions. Or, How European Universalism Was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2005. info
  • KING, Richard. Orientalism and religion : postcolonial theory, India and "the mystic East". London: Routledge, 1999, viii, 283. ISBN 0415202582. info
  • SMITH, Wilfred Cantwell. The Meaning and End of Religion. 3rd. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991. info
  • NANDY, Ashis. The intimate enemy : loss and recovery of self under colonialism. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1988, xx, 121 p. ISBN 0-19-562237-549. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, seminar discussions, homeworks (document analyses).
Assessment methods
Review essay, position paper on selected papers for seminar discussion, final discussion concerning the essay.
Final evauation has the form of colloquim. The condition of granting colloquium to a student is acceptance of each of the above mentioned outcomes. Position paper consists of three paragraphs from which the first sums up the issue at stake, the second summarises the support for the main argument, and the third presents the students' position. The review essay has 10 000 to 15 000 characters and contains brief summary of principal questions and issues in the reviewed text, and the formulation of the student's evaluation of the presented discussion.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2010.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2009, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2009/RLB267