SUNY Press Catalog - Spring 2009 - (Page 29) New in Paper Woman as Fire, Woman as Sage Sexual Ideology in the MahĀbhĀr ata religious studies SINGING KrISHNA Sound Becomes Sight in Paramaµnand’s Poetry A.Whitney Sanford Introduces Paramaµnand, one of India’s poet-saints, his work, and this work’s use in ritual. WOMAN AS FIrE, WOMAN AS SAGE Sexual ideology in the Mahaµbhaµrata Arti Dhand Explores ideas on women and sexuality presented in the Mahaµbhaµrata. singingakrishna Sound Becomes Sight in Paramānand’s Poetry Arti Dhand The Hindu tradition has held conflicting views on womanhood from its earliest texts—holding women aloft as goddesses on the one hand and remaining deeply suspicious about women’s sexuality on the other. Arti Dhand examines the religious premises upon which Hindu ideas of sexuality and women are constructed, by focusing on the great Hindu epic, the Mahaµbhaµrata, a text that not only reflects the cogitations of a momentous period in Hindu history, but also was critical in shaping the future of Hinduism. JANUArY • 254 pp $18.95 pb 978-0-7914-7140-1 Singing Krishna introduces Paramaµnand, one of north India’s greatest medieval poet-saints, whose poetry has been sung from the sixteenth century to the present in ritual service to the Hindu deity Krishna. A. Whitney Sanford examines how hearing Paramaµnand’s poetry in ritual context serves as a threshold for devotees between this world and Krishna’s divine world. A. Whitney Sanford (Frev2) pms 293 + black e JANUArY • 207 pp $19.95 pb 978-0-7914-7396-2 e Like AngeLs on JAcob’s LAdder Abraham Abulafia, the Franciscans, and Joachimism LIKE ANGELS ON JACOB’S LADDEr abraham abulafia, the Franciscans, and Joachimism Harvey J. Hames Explores the career of Abraham Abulafia, thirteenth-century founder of the school of ecstatic Kabbalah. CONTESTING JUSTICE Contesting Justice WomEn, ISlAm, lAW, And SoCIEty Women, islam, law, and Society Ahmed E. Souaiaia Argues that the rights of women in Muslim society are based on the preserved cultural standards of elites, not the ethical philosophy of the Qur<aµn. Ahmed E. Souaiaia Harvey J. Hames (Brev2a) pms 116 + 350 JANUArY • 171 pp • 2 figures $18.95 pb 978-0-7914-7272-9 e JANUArY • 195 pp • 6 tables, 2 figures $20.95 pb 978-0-7914-7398-6 e 29 www.sunypress.edu This book explores the career of Abraham Abulafia (ca. 1240–1291), self-proclaimed Messiah and founder of the school of ecstatic Kabbalah. Active in southern Italy and Sicily where Franciscans had adopted the apocalyptic teachings of Joachim of Fiore, Abulafia believed the end of days was approaching and saw himself as chosen by God to reveal the Divine truth. Contesting Justice examines the development of the laws and practices governing the status of women in Muslim society, particularly in terms of marriage, polygamy, inheritance, and property rights. Ahmed E. Souaiaia argues that such laws were not methodically derived from legal sources but rather are the preserved understanding and practices of the early ruling elite. He critically explores the way religion is developed and then is transformed into a social control mechanism that transcends legal reform, gender-sensitive education, or radical modernization. http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61589 http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61461 http://www.sunypress.edu http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61533 http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61594
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