Thesis (doctoral)--Lund University, Sweden, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 154-170).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [36]-37).

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Dale Smith, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences, Dept. of Political Science. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 9, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 81 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [36]-37).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on October 25, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on November 18, 2009). Thesis advisor: Dr. Signe Cohen. Includes bibliographical references.

My dissertation project, ‘Reimagining the Modern Hindu Self: Caste, Untouchability and Hindu Theology in Colonial South Asia, 1899-1948’ examines the interrelationship between modern forms of Hinduness and the narratives of Progressivism in the context of Maharashtra, a region in Western India. I present a thick description of the complex social world of Marathi intellectuals and cultural actors of the early twentieth century through various discursive/philosophical writings, journals, newspapers, pamphlets, personal correspondence, biographies, as well as a wide range of literary corpus of novels, plays and literary criticism in Marathi. My project hopes to demonstrate that a deeper engagement with the vernacular discourses would be enriching and productive for South Asian intellectual history. My methodology involved an exploration of the dialogic and transformational relationships between the centre and the peripheries of ‘Hinduness’ across disparate sites of discursive productions like non-Brahmin print publics, theological debates and literary culture. Through an examination of the ways in which the various peripheries of Hinduness – like Untouchables, the non-Brahmin, the non-Hindu and the women – had transformed the ideas of what constituted the core of modern Hinduness, I argue that the various narratives of Maharashtra’s progressivism and a complex phenomenon of modern Hinduness were deeply implicated in the production of each other in the first half of the twentieth century. My project identifies untouchables, women, anti-caste intellectuals, toilet cleaners, translators of Sanskrit texts and people who fasted unto death as crucial actors in this reimagination of modern Hindu self. Also, by providing a regionally specific history of Hindu ethic, my project challenges the Pan-Indian narrative of universal Hinduism that is privileged in the historiography of South Asia and enables me to argue that the ethical value of Hinduness was inherently political and the universal idea of Hinduness did not emerge through a singular genealogy. It is in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, that the contradiction between the ethical and political aspects of Hinduness became significant. My project is to write a long and complex history of this imperative moment that coincided with the dawn of independent India.

Syftet med denna studie har varit att bidra med kunskap om hur hinduismen och kristendomen framställs i läroböcker i religionskunskap för årskurs 4–6 utifrån ett ”vi och dem”-perspektiv. För att konkretisera syftet har forskningsfrågorna ”Hur framställs hinduismen i läroböcker för årskurs 4–6 utifrån ett ”vi och dem”-perspektiv?”, ”Hur framställs kristendomen i läroböcker för årskurs 4–6 utifrån ett ”vi och dem”-perspektiv?” samt ”Vilka likheter och skillnader finns i framställningen av religionerna?” legat till grund för studien. Forskningsfrågorna har besvarats med hjälp av en kvalitativ textanalys, bildanalys samt en kvantitativ analys. Vidare har det teoretiska perspektivet ”vi och dem”, som har sin grund i Edward W. Saids teori om orientalism, använts för att besvara forskningsfrågorna och uppfylla studiens syfte. Resultaten av studien visade att hinduismen framställdes som något främmande och hinduer framställdes som ”dem”, medan kristendomen framställdes som något läsaren förväntas identifiera sig med, som del av ett ”vi”. Genom olika perspektiv på religionerna, representation av etniciteter, hudfärger, platser samt religiös mångfald samt genom språkliga ställningstaganden som synliggjordes vilken den tänkta läsaren var. Hinduismen gavs lite utrymme i läroböckerna och beskrevs mycket kortfattat. Detta skapade en distans till religionen, då läsaren (som inte förväntades vara hindu) inte gavs djupare kunskap om religionen. Hinduismen likställdes även ofta med Indien, medan kristendomen framställdes ur ett svenskt perspektiv och fick mer utrymme i böckerna. Resultaten visade även att en religiös mångfald presenterades och det framgick att religiösa inte är en homogen grupp, vilket kan motverka en stereotyp bild av religionerna. Slutsatserna visade att elever genom att läsa läroböckerna kan få en bild av att kristendomen är viktigare än hinduismen. Slutsatserna visade även att kristendomen ges en särskild ställning i religionsundervisningen, vilket kan utmana icke-konfessionaliteten skolan ska upprätthålla.

Abstract This thesis primarily deals with rituals and the specific objects related to the rituals. The rituals in question are the once in a life time event of the Hindu cremation ceremony, and perpendicular to that, the everyday rituals which constitutes daily life. Through an existential and ontological theoretical exploration the bridge, doorway, step and Lota (vernacular Indian pottery) become the signified objects which are arranged to form the existential theatre. Which presents a reincarnation of architecture: a hybrid pedestrian bridge with cremation infrastructure. Furthermore parallel theories of rationality and irrationality, solid and void, boundaries, the structure of time and nothingness, are explored to theoretically contextualize the semiotics of the architecture. The siting of the existential theatre is at the beginning of the Ganges River, formed by various head rivers, in Rishikesh, India. Rishikesh is at center of intersections of religious mythology, commercialism, touristism, a holy pilgrimage site, popular culture and a growing local community. It is only within this context can the existential theatre can exist, as the multiplicity of cultural intersections allows for a composite arrangement of various significations. Spatial, cultural and ritual typologies are revealed when using Learning from Las Vegas as a ruler to measure Rishikesh. These typologies are then employed into the scheme. The Hindu ritual of cremation is an age old tradition with the sole purpose of liberating the soul from its physical form. So it may then be reincarnated into another form. This process is governed by the law of Karma. An in-depth analysis is done of each stage of the ritual to highlight spaces within which architecture can facilitate, efficiently and sustainably, but not alter the process. The meaning behind each stage is used to sequentially signify components of the scheme. The first informal form of the existential theatre is witnessed due to natural occurrences and proximities of the once in a life time ritual of cremation along with everyday pedestrian rituals; this thesis is a formalization of these naturally occurring elements. The charrette process proved to be praxis of the existential and ontological theoretical inquiry; as well as a metaphor for the ritual of cremation. This was done through the abstraction of an everyday object, the incense stick. The charrette process produced the architectural tools with which to design the scheme with. The resulting architecture of the existential theatre is informed by the ceremonial cremation procession and is paralleled with every day rituals. The ultimate aim of my project is to facilitate the Hindu Cremation Ritual, in a respectful and sustainable manner while asking and suggesting answers to existential questions. / MN (2016)