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Virtual orientalism : Asian religions and American popular culture /
This book examines the contemporary fascination with Eastern spirituality and provides a cultural history of the representation of Asian religions in American mass media. Encounters with monks, gurus, bhikkhus, sages, sifus, healers, and masters from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds and religiou...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
Oxford University Press,
2011.
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| Subjects and Genres: | |
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| Summary: |
This book examines the contemporary fascination with Eastern spirituality and provides a cultural history of the representation of Asian religions in American mass media. Encounters with monks, gurus, bhikkhus, sages, sifus, healers, and masters from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds and religious traditions provided initial engagements with Asian spiritual traditions. It shows the evolution of these interactions, from direct engagements with specific individuals to mediated relations with a conventionalized icon: the Oriental Monk. Visually and psychically compelling, the Oriental Monk becomes for Americans a "figure of translation''--a convenient symbol for alternative spiritualities and modes of being. Through the figure of the solitary Monk, who generously and purposefully shares his wisdom with the West, Asian religiosity is made manageable--psychologically, socially, and politically--for popular culture consumption. |
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| Physical Description: |
xi, 214 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Bibliography: |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-204) and index. |
| ISBN: |
9780199738601 0199738602 9780199738618 0199738610 |