The Wrestlers Body: Identity and Idelology in North India

Joseph S. Alter

ISBN 10: 8121507995 / ISBN 13: 9788121507998

Published by Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1999

About this Item

isbn matches very clean hardcove w/ dj. light wear and very clean text. solid binding Fast service with confirmation, no international or priority orders over 4lbs. Bookseller Inventory # mon0000070611

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Wrestlers Body: Identity and Idelology ...

Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers

Publication Date: 1999

Binding: Hardcover

Book Condition:Very Good

About this title

Synopsis:

The Wrestler's Body tells the story of a way of life organized in terms of physical self-development. While Indian wrestlers are competitive athletes, they are also moral reformers whose conception of self and society is fundamentally somatic. Using the insights of anthropology, Joseph Alter writes an ethnography of the wrestler's physique that elucidates the somatic structure of the wrestler's identity and ideology.

Young men in North India may choose to join an akhara, or gymnasium, where they subject themselves to a complex program of physical and moral fitness. Alter's first-hand description of each detail of the wrestler's regimen offers a unique perspective on South Asian culture and society. Wrestlers feel that moral reform of Indian national character is essential and advocate their way of life as an ideology of national health. Everyone is called on to become a wrestler and build collective strength through self-discipline.

About the Author:

Joseph S. Alter grew up in North India and was himself a youthful member of an akhara. He was educated at Woodstock School in India and at Wesleyan University and the University of California, Berkeley.