Ritual Innovation

Brian K. Pennington

ISBN 10: 1438469020 / ISBN 13: 9781438469027

Published by State University of New York Press, US, 2019

About this Item

Challenges prevailing conceptions of what religious ritual does and how it achieves its ends.Religious rituals are often seen as unchanging and ahistorical bearers of long-standing traditions. But as this book demonstrates, ritual is a lively platform for social change and innovation in the religions of South Asia. Drawing from Hindu and Jain examples in India, Nepal, and North America, the essays in this volume, written by renowned scholars of religion, explore how the intentional, conscious, and public invention or alteration of ritual can effect dramatic social transformation, whether in dethroning a Nepali king or sanctioning same-sex marriage. Ritual Innovation shows how the very idea of ritual as a conservative force misreads the history of religion by overlooking ritual's inherent creative potential and its adaptability to new contexts and circumstances.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781438469027

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Ritual Innovation
• Publisher: State University of New York Press, US
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1438469020
• ISBN 13: 9781438469027
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 435 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Challenges prevailing conceptions of what religious ritual does and how it achieves its ends.

Religious rituals are often seen as unchanging and ahistorical bearers of long-standing traditions. But as this book demonstrates, ritual is a lively platform for social change and innovation in the religions of South Asia. Drawing from Hindu and Jain examples in India, Nepal, and North America, the essays in this volume, written by renowned scholars of religion, explore how the intentional, conscious, and public invention or alteration of ritual can effect dramatic social transformation, whether in dethroning a Nepali king or sanctioning same-sex marriage. Ritual Innovation shows how the very idea of ritual as a conservative force misreads the history of religion by overlooking ritual's inherent creative potential and its adaptability to new contexts and circumstances.

About the Author

Amy L. Allocco is Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Multifaith Scholars Program at Elon University in North Carolina. She is the coeditor, with Brian K. Pennington, of Ritual Innovation: Strategic Interventions in South Asian Religion, also published by SUNY Press.