Arjun Appadurai's developing theory of post-modernity

Contemporary social-cultural Anthropologist Arjun Appaduari finds that today's world involves interactions of a 'new order and intensity'. These interactions are far less restricted than the boundaries which history has shown us. Appaduari argues that modernity and globalization are not unified processes and that there is not a one way direction towards the future within India or any other developing eastern country.

Appadurai identifies how the imagination is part of a new order of interactions associated with the global flows and relationships between information, finance, technology, and many other cultural systems. His main concern is is about the institutionalization of the imagination itself and how it is one of many social tools used to consistently adapt and act with the fast and ever-changing present global order. The core of Appadurai's theory lies within his 'scapes', which are the ways, directions, and overall flow of ideas around the world. Appadurai's theory is composed of five dimensions (scapes) of global cultural flow. These five dimensions are known as ideoscapes, ethnoscapes, mediascapes, finanscapes, and technoscapes, and each impacts the world differently via their make-ups of demographics, electronic information, financial drivers and markets, and modern technology. Consequently, any new ideas which flow into India do so by the five 'scapes' and are interpreted according to the politics of India's past.

Appadurai's developing theory has taken the simple consensus of one size fits all and turned it inside out. His theory conceives that India won't assimilate into a proposed uniformed way of life. Instead India will attune some specifically chosen American and western ideas into their part of the globalizing world.

(Appadurai, A. 1996, Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization, University of Minnesota Press, United States)

The Golden Temple

The Golden Temple (or gurdwara), officially renamed Harmandir Sahib in March 2005, is a major pilgrimage destination for Sikhs from all over the world, as well as an increasingly popular tourist attraction. This famous place is found in Amritsar, Punjab.

Its construction began in 1574 when Mughal Emperor Akbar donated a piece of land to build this religious place. He was initially very impressed by the way of life of the devotees. The building and its architecture is of great interest to people all over the world. It is considered as the ‘most tangibly place in the country’. An interesting fact about this sacred place is that 100 kg of Gold was used to decorate it. The gold plating on the Harmandir Sahib was begun by Emperor Ranjit Singh and was finished in 1830 AD. The Sher-e-Punjab (Lion of the Punjab), was a heavy donor of wealth and materials for the shrine and is remembered with much affection by the Punjabi people in general and the Sikh community in particular

There are some rules which apply while visiting the temple; people are not allowed to drink alcohol, eat meat or even smoke in the shrine, they should leave their shoes at the entrance before entering the pool and should dress appropriately. The beautiful golden structure at the centre of the pool is known as the Hari Mandir, referred to as the Divine Temple.

Furthermore, there is a restaurant for visitors where 35,000 people are fed by the temple volunteers. Everyone sits on the floor, regardless of creed, colour and caste. Those who are on a pilgrimage are offered rooms and there are approximately 400 of them. Festivals such as the Vaisakhi and Divali are celebrated over there with great pomp and fervor. During these special occasions 1-2 million pilgrims visit the Holy shrine.

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/india/golden-temple-of-amritsar

Buddhism refers to the religion that is dedicated to ‘Buddha’, which means ‘awakened one’ or ‘enlightened one’. In this case, Siddhattha Gotama is the one which is implicated in the history of Buddhism. Buddhism is more of a philosophy than religion and it mainly emphasizes the teachings of Buddha.

These teachings mainly help people to develop a calmer and more affectionate personality and to see their way through suffering and pain. Buddhism is characterized by the ‘Dhamma’ (eternal truth) and the Nibbana (goal of life – escape of what is seen as the cycle of suffering and rebirth). The foundations of Buddhist tradition and practice are the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings), and the Sangha (the community).

Gotama was born in Limbini and his father was a King called Suddhodana. He got married at the age of 16. From the time he was born, he father shielded him from al possible suffering that existed. However, later on, Gotama discovered that material wealth was not life’s ultimate goal and thus he decided to go on a religious quest. He came across what his father had been hiding him from; the aged, the sick and the suffering. After that, he became an ascetic as a possible route to his goal.

Buddha developed deep meditations as a prelude to enlightenment, seated under the ‘Bodhi’, known as the enlightened tree. He used mind-reading powers and decided to convey his teachings to people who were spiritually mature. Buddha had recourse to psychic powers but these were as a result of the meditations. Moreover, his powers were used for physical healing.

Buddha was neither a God nor a human. He believed that he had gone beyond the deep-rooted unconscious traits that would make him God or human, just like a lotus which grows from the water but blossoms above it unsoiled. Today, there are approximately 1-1.6 billion Buddhists around the world and it remains by date the fourth largest religion.

Harvey P. 1990, An Introduction to Buddhism: teachings, history, and practices, Cambridge University Press, England, pp. 1-29

summaries online

Hi tradmods
It is indeed very pleasing to read the posted summaries.
Keep the good work happening...but do remember part of the criteria is the 300 word limit. There is a skill and an art for producing a concise summary and indeed Mies Van De Roche's dictum always stands in good stead.....less is more!

SUMMARY OF 'SAIDS ORIENTALISM'

Edward Said's Orientalism studies how the Western Colonial powers represented Eastern lands during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century's. An important note here is that Said recognizes how Orientalism manages to survive today. It's still seen in Western media reports on Eastern countries, much like the recent coverage of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. The main point here is that, in Said's critique of Orientalism, he perceives that it is a constellation of false assumptions underlying Western attitudes toward the East. Said also recognizes that even after each colonies independence colonialism does not disappear altogether. He illustrates that representations of colonialism continue after decolonization and are still a major part of how the West views Eastern countries. In McLeod's reading he outlines the general shape of Orientalism, as defined by Said, also going into more detail with the stereotypical assumptions about cultural differences, and the criticisms associated with Said's perspective.

The shape of Orientalism

1. Orientalism constructs binary divisions.

This is the assumption that the East and West exist in opposition, the East being everything the West is not. This is not an equal opposition because the Orient is described negatively in order to maintain a sense of strength and dominance with the West.

2. Orientalism is a Western fantasy.

Said believes that Western perceptions are based on their assumptions about what is different to their own. They are not based on what actually exists inside the East, and are imaginations among many.

3. Orientalism is an institution.

Throughout the institutionalization of Orientalism Western perceptions transform into reliable knowledge. Such knowledge is passed down through academic establishments based on previous imaginations, this shows just how embedded Orientalism is within the West.

4. Orientalism is literary.

Said embodies the influence Orientalism has on a multitude of literary writings. Such influenced writings celebrate Western experiences abroad, and remind people that Western culture is entangled with Western colonialism.

5. Orientalism is legitimating

Now Orientalism is so widespread that it is going to take a political form that supports such colonial ruling. Said points out how Oriental representations exist in the West to justify the propriety of Western colonial rule over Eastern land.

6. There is 'latent' and manifest' Orientalism.

Said divides Orientalism in two to emphasize the connection between the imaginative perceptions of Orientalism and its material effects. Said describes Latent Orientalism as the fantasies about the Orient that remain constant throughout time. Manifest Orientalism is the producing of Orientalist knowledge at different historical periods. Therefore latent Orientalism is the design that manifest Orientalism builds various materialistic versions from.

Stereotypes of the Orient

1. The Orient is timeless.

McLeod insinuates here that the Orient is represented without history in binary opposition to the historical progress of the West.

2. The Orient is strange.

The Orient's stereotype was one of unusual difference and considered bizarre to Westerners. This also came to be perceived as a weakness which the West could take advantage of.

3. The Oriental is degenerate.

Another stereotype is that the Oriental is weak, unsure of them self, and a coward. They were considered people who needed to be saved from their barbaric customs compared to the West's civil ways.

4. Orientalism makes assumptions about gender.

The Oriental men and women were exercised as grotesque parodies of one another. Men deemed insufficiently masculine, women presented as being immodestly sexually active, adding to their prescribed abnormalities.

5. The Orient is feminine.

In addition to the gender assumptions was the gendering of the Orient in opposition to the West. Here the Orient is perceived to be specifically feminine, scrawny and inferior to the muscular stride common to the Western colonial nations.

6. The Oriental is degenerate.

This composed the Oriental stereotypes into the ideas of laziness, untrustworthiness, violence, and feeble temptations that indulged in the lower levels of human behavior. Hence the previous imposition of the West saving the Orient from them self.

Criticisms of Said's Orientalism argue that by making ethnicity and cultural background the test of authority and objectivity in studying the Orient, Said's attention subsequently draws to the question of identity, and the idea of "Who am I?" Which is only the biggest topic in all of Western literature. Other scholars also regarded Said's Orientalism as a genuinely flawed account of Western scholarship over the ages. Such criticisms clearly don't overthrow Said's innovative studies, but they do encourage readers to not be blindly immovable about the business of colonial discourses.

McLeod, L. (2000) Beginning postcolonialism, Manchester University Press, Chapter 2, pp. 37-57