This dissertation uses discursive formation as the methodological approach to examine representations of Indian Christians in eleven Bollywood movies released during the 2004-2014 decade. The decade witnessed the exit and eventual re-entry of the Hindu Right, and the citizenry during that period experienced centrist, liberal, and secular governance. Since the present of Indian Christianity is inextricable from a colonial past, and Bollywood emerges in response to colonialism, a postcolonial intervention in methodology and theory is undertaken. A postcolonial perspective illuminates the discourses that enable the formation of the postcolonial nation, i.e., the ways a nation imagines its culture, people, traditions, boundaries, and Others. There is a suggested relationship between the representations of Indian Christians in Bollywood movies and the decade of secular governance because the analysis is approached from the position that culture and media produce and re-produce each other. The representations of Christians in Bollywood movies are a product of contemporary and historical cultural, legal, political, and social discourses. This dissertation demonstrates that representations of Christians as hypersexual women and emasculated men within an emergent Hindu modernity discursively constructs India as a Hindu nation, and Christians as the westernized Other. The theoretical contributions pertain to belonging in the nation through homonationalism and hypersexualization; the relationship between democratic representations and media; the postcolonial ambivalent identity of the Bollywood industry because of way it represents Indian Christians in response to colonialism; and the Indian Christian community’s postcolonial identity as a way to make sense of their contemporary and historical identity.

Syftet med denna komparativa litteraturstudie har varit att jämföra teorier om vilka sociala och psykologiska processer som kan vara bidragande till att unga muslimer i indienstyrda Kashmir dras till radikala och våldsbejakande grupper samt att undersöka vilken påverkan de hindunationalistiska strömningar som vuxit sig starka i Indien under de senaste decennierna har haft på radikaliseringen av denna grupp. Avsikten har varit att bidra med en fördjupad insikt om de processer som bidrar till en polarisering mellan en utgrupp (det hindunationalistiska styret) och en ingrupp (de unga muslimska aktivisterna) och genom jämförelse av olika radikaliseringsteorier utröna vilka eventuella skillnader och svagheter dessa teorier har. Med hjälp av en deduktiv metod och en hermeneutisk ansats har tre förklaringsmodeller jämförts och analyserats. Resultatet visar att radikalisering är en komplex process där både inre psykologiska och yttre sociala faktorer samspelar. Den hindunationalistiska diskurs som vuxit sig allt starkare i Indien under senare år har bidragit till att etnicitet och religion i allt större utsträckning hörs i en debatt som tidigare mest handlat om rätten till självbestämmande. De tre förklaringsmodeller som här analyserats visar att staten har en avgörande roll att spela i radikaliseringsprocessen. Slutsatsen är att det finns ett starkt samband mellan utgruppens användande av statssanktionerat våld och ingruppens radikalisering. I kampen mot terrorism är statsmakten med och skapar det polariserade klimat och de våldsaccepterande radikala grupper som den sedan investerar mycket tid och resurser för att bekämpa. Jag visar nedan hur den indiska staten under decennier besvarat kashmiriernas krav på rätt till självbestämmande med ökad militär närvaro, minskad autonomi och ökat militärt våld. Den intensiva militariseringen av området och förvägran av befolkningens rätt till självbestämmande har haft en stor inverkan på hur unga muslimer i Kashmir organiserar motstånd och en anledning till varför de kommit att se våld som en nödvändig del av detta motstånd. Ingen av de tre valda teorierna förklarar dock varför endast ett litet fåtal av befolkningen i området deltar i våldsamt motstånd mot det upplevda förtrycket. / The purpose of this comparative literature study has been to compare theories about the social and psychological processes that may contribute to young Muslims in Indian-led Kashmir being drawn to radical groups and to examine what impact the Hindu nationalist movement, which have grown strong in India in recent years, have had on the radicalization of this group. The intention has been to contribute with an in-depth insight into the processes that contribute to a polarization between an out-group group (the Hindu nationalist government) and an in-group (the young Muslim activists) and by comparing different radicalization theories to find out what differences and weaknesses these theories have. Using a deductive method and a hermeneutic approach, three explanatory models have been compared and analyzed. The results show that radicalization is a complex process in which both internal psychological and external social factors interact. The Hindu nationalist discourse, which has grown stronger in India in recent years, has contributed to ethnicity and religion being heard to an increasing extent in a debate that in the past was mostly about the right to self-determination. The three explanatory models analyzed here show that the state has a crucial role to play in the radicalization process. The conclusion is that there is a strong connection between the out-group's use of state-sanctioned violence and the in-group’s level of radicalization. In the fight against terrorism, the state is contributing to the polarized climate and the emergence of violence-accepting radical groups, which it then invests a lot of time and resources in combating. I show below how the Indian state for decades has responded to the Kashmiris' demands for the right to self-determination with increased military presence, reduced autonomy and increased military violence. The intense militarization of the area and the denial of the population's right to self-determination have had a major impact on how young Muslims in Kashmir organize resistance and a reason why they have come to see violence as a necessary part of this resistance. However, none of the three chosen theories explains why only a small minority of the population in the area participates in violent resistance against the oppressors.

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Thesis advisor: Margaret E. Guider / Thesis advisor: Francis X Clooney / In ‘geo-religious’ contexts throughout the world, the Church faces two crucial imperatives. Called to participate in the Missio Dei, it must engage other religions through inter-religious encounters and dialogue. Called to immerse itself within multi-religious realities, it also must deal with the epistemic arrogance that has accelerated religious extremism and contributed to the social construction, domination, and vilification of the religious ‘other.’ In response to these imperatives, Church leaders have issued a substantial number of ecclesial documents inviting Christians to enter into dialogue with adherents of other religions and philosophies of life. Ecclesial ministers have been called to reflect upon the 'clash of religions' and offer adequate responses to religious conflicts in various regions of the world. Unfortunately, however, our reliance on the comparative study of religion and the theology of religions, while informative, has not proven to be sufficiently formative. If Christian communities of faith are to respond to the adverse consequences of religious extremism, violence, and conflict, a new way of doing theological education is needed. Formation for ministry must include learning how to approach the religious other in a 'dialogue of life' through 'epistemic humility' that acknowledges, our need for the religious other. It must include cultivating the dialogical virtues of humility, hospitality, empathy, and interconnectedness necessary for promoting a ‘culture of encounter.’ In the processes of encounter and dialogue, learning by listening deeply can be transformative both for aspiring ministers and for adherents of other religions as they develop relationships of trust and mutual concern, thereby opening themselves to creating a heart for the other. In this dissertation, I propose that within the context of India, where religious violence is exacerbated by extremism and the marginalization of non-Hindus, the mission of interreligious dialogue entrusted to the Church by the Holy Spirit can be enhanced by encounters and relationships that provide for a deeper engagement with religious texts, rituals, and performative aspects of various faith traditions. I use the method of Comparative Theology articulated by Francis X. Clooney, S.J., that aims at deepening and expanding one’s own tradition through interreligious learning. In doing so, I advance the conviction, drawing from my own experiences through immersion, that the popular Hindu devotional text, Rāmcaritmānas, from the 16th century, with its textual, ritual, and performative dimensions, offers an instructive model for fostering a ‘culture of encounter’ and practicing dialogical virtues for the sake of the Reign of God.¹ As a consequence, I argue that ecclesial ministers who are formed and transformed by such experiences will be better prepared to accompany Indian Christians in ‘creating a heart for the other.’ Furthermore, by introducing aesthetical approaches to the proclamation, communication, and reception of Gospel narratives that deal with the life of Jesus Christ, the fruit and application of their interreligious learning, they also will be more skilled at helping Indian Christians to rediscover and intensify their devotion to Christ. Ideally, it is my hope that these learnings from the Mānas will foster ‘bandhuthā’ (fraternity) among Christians and Hindus and ultimately promote and sustain genuine encounters and dialogue. ¹ Abbreviated form Mānas / Thesis (STD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

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<p>This thesis is a study of the patterns of change within Sri Lankan Tamil tradition, with a particular focus on the nineteenth century. It endeavours to accomplish two things. First, by the examination of colonial Sri Lanka against a detailed consideration of the pre-existing society and culture, the thesis shows that the colonial period, far from being one of great change and disjunction with the past, in fact experienced a very gradual course of social change which was facilitated by the widespread incorporation of traditional structures that gave colonial society a much needed stability and a peaceful environment where trade and commerce could prosper. ~econdly, by taking this approach, the thesis demonstrates that the nineteenth century Anglo-Saxon Protestant missionaries eventually fell into the traditional role of sannyasins, a role, as this work shows, that had been adopted by the Jain mendicants and the Buddhist bhikkhus who had preceded them. The thesis first demonstrates that the sannyasin, although in a fundamental sense an enemy of caste, having turned his or her back on caste society, has nevertheless deeply influenced Hindu society, partfcularly when organized as a community of renouncers. The thesis then goes on to argue that the Protestant sannyasins likewise, in the establishment of male and female boarding schools, advocated a form of communal renunciation, which contributed .to the formation of a parallel society alongside the caste society, and which became instrumental in initiating many changes within Tamil culture in Sri Lanka.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>More than simply a backdrop, the forest in the Mahabharata and Ramayaoa is one of three central environments in the Hindu epics, and of the three is easily the setting which most frequently shapes the epic action. By studying the forest, the people who pass through it and their activities there, a new perspective on Hindu epic narrative is gained.</p> <p>The central thesis of this study is that the tripartite process of transformation, first observed in rites of passage, operates in the forest-related sections of the Mahabharata and Ramayana, the middle or threshold phase of that process centering in the forest. The forest, then, acts as a threshold across which the epic heroes and heroines pass as they move from one lift-stage to another, or as is more often the case, from one state of existence to another.</p> <p>For example, in the early adventures of both Rama and Laksmana. . and the Pandava brothers, the heroes move from ... the brahmacarya life-stage to the grhastha life-stage. Similarly both Nala and Damayanti reflect this transfermative process: Nala as he moves from being a ritually impure, possessed, insane king to a purified, liberated, sane king; Damayanti as she moves from being the wife of a madman to the wife of a just, powerful ruler. Damayanti 's transition is more dramatic than first appears for in epic India a woman had very few life options, thus a disastrous marriage meant that she was as good as dead. Both Draupadi and sit~ cross forest thresholds similar to Damayanti's. The Pandava brothers and Rama also cross similar forest thresholds. Their movement from a state of peace to a state of war occurs primarily during the forest exiles common to both epics. Finally, while they dwell in the forest threshold, the epic religious heroes and heroines par excellence, the tapas-doing ascetics, move from a state of existence in which they are subject to death to a state of immortality. This last process, the movement from mundane, profane sphere to sacred sphere, provides a pattern useful for further understanding the forest activities of Rama and the Pandavas.</p> <p>In studying these various movements between states of existence, characteristics of the threshold phase of these processes emerge. In the case of Pandava the dynamic movement of the threshold is stressed, celibacy, communists, pilgrimage and the intersection of mythic and heroic planes are the central characteristics. In the case of Rama, when the more static ideal nature of the threshold is stressed, the dual modality of Nowhere and Source is the central characteristic. These characteristics themselves become tools with which to understand some of the intricacies of epic narrative.</p> <p>More importantly by focusing on the forest, an essential difference between the Mahabharata and the Ramayana can be explored. And this is certainly one of the most important contributions of this study. Very few investigations have endeavored to treat both of the Hindu epics. The reasons for this are complex, but I suspect that to confront the whole of both epics is impossible because of their vastness, while to choose a perspective from which to see both epics simultaneously without trivializing is difficult. The forest in the Mahabharata and Ramayana provides a substantial perspective and thus a study of it is helpful in understanding the meanings of the Hindu epics.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)