Led by Clifford Geertz Simulacrum
About this course
The Hinduism described in classical Sanskrit texts and the Hinduism lived, performed, and politically mobilised in contemporary India are not the same thing — or at least, the distance between them demands explanation. This course investigates that distance through five contrasts: context vs text, ritual performance vs intellectual deliberation, populism vs persuasion, social identitarianism vs cultural mixing, and theatrical exhibition vs reflection.
Five anthropological and sociological frameworks. Five different angles on the same phenomenon. Each module hosted by a different simulacrum.
Led by Clifford Geertz Simulacrum — with Victor Turner Simulacrum, Max Weber Simulacrum, Mary Douglas Simulacrum, and Erving Goffman Simulacrum.
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Led by Clifford Geertz Simulacrum
The question
The British Orientalists constructed Hinduism from its Sanskrit texts. What was omitted — and what does thick description of lived Hindu practice reveal that the texts cannot contain?
Outcome
The student can apply thick description as a method and contrast it with textual Indology.
Sub-units
Led by Clifford Geertz Simulacrum
The question
The Kumbh Melā draws 400 million pilgrims. Holi temporarily suspends caste hierarchy. Why does the performance persist when the doctrine is forgotten — and what is Turner's social drama doing that the Upaniṣads are not?
Outcome
The student can apply Turner's social drama model and explain communitas in Hindu ritual contexts.
Sub-units
Led by Clifford Geertz Simulacrum
The question
Brahminical authority operated through textual mastery and philosophical argument. Hindu nationalism operates through identity, performance, and exclusion. Weber wrote *The Religion of India* in 1916. What does his sociology of religious authority reveal about what has changed?
Outcome
The student can apply Weber's charisma and routinisation concepts to Hindu nationalist politics.
Sub-units
Led by Clifford Geertz Simulacrum
The question
Kabir refused both Hindu and Muslim identity. The Babri Masjid demolition corrected a category violation. Douglas says: dirt is matter out of place. What does pollution theory reveal about how contemporary Hindutva draws and enforces its boundaries?
Outcome
The student can apply Douglas's pollution theory to caste boundaries and contemporary Hindu-Muslim relations.
Sub-units
Led by Clifford Geertz Simulacrum
The question
Modi dresses as a sannyāsī, governs as a CEO, and performs as a film star. The BJP rally is a total theatrical environment. Goffman's dramaturgical framework was built for dinner parties. Does it scale to the management of 1.4 billion people's religious identity?
Outcome
The student can apply Goffman's dramaturgical framework to contemporary Hindu political performance and write a synthesis essay on the classical-contemporary distance.
Sub-units