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(2016) Asia, modernity, and the pursuit of the sacred, Dordrecht, Springer.
One of the most common criticisms of Western writings on Asia in general, and Asian religion in particular, is that they have less to do with "real" Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. and much more with the (modern/Western) concerns of those who author them. Western accounts of non-Western belief systems are, in other words, better seen as particular kinds of representation rather than descriptions of actually existing Islamic/Buddhist/Hindu/Taoist/Confucian beliefs and practices that they purport to be. In a word, although critics are increasingly hesitant to use it, these accounts are inauthentic. In this view, Guénon"s Islam, David-Néel"s Buddhism, Schrödinger"s Hinduism, Hesse"s Taoism/Confucianism are "constructions" that bear little or no resemblance to Islam in the Middle East (or Southeast Asia), Buddhism in Tibet, Hinduism in India, or Taoism/Confucianism in China respectively.
Publication details
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-137-56795-6_3
Full citation:
Kahn, J. S. (2016). Traditionalism: a dialectic of authenticity, in Asia, modernity, and the pursuit of the sacred, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 29-54.
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