H432 Body Power and Society in Early India (II)
- Course Code:
- 154800226
- Status:
- Course Not Running 2012/2013
- Unit value:
- 1
- Taught in:
- Full Year
The course will provide an intensive focus on the body, widely conceived, in pre-colonial Indian society. A certain amount of emphasis will be placed on wider comparative and theoretical approaches to the study of the human body in history, drawing on the disciplines of sociology, relgious studies, and gender studies, but the chief focus will be on gaining a familiarity with the Indian materials. It will place materials on the body against particular historical and cultural backdrops including the evolution of religious doctrines and rituals, cosmological and astronomical thinking, courtly and urban culture, military societies, and village and peasant life, ranging in time from early historical India to the eighteenth century.
Prerequisites
To be taken with Body, Power and Society in Early India (I)
Objectives and learning outcomes of the course
- To famliarise students with established and new trends in the study of the relation of individuals and societies
- To develop a keen awareness of interdisciplinary approaches to the study of early India
- To present students with an both an overview of the early Indian materials relating to the body, widely conceived, in relation to society, as well as greater familiarity with several in depth case studies
- To develop critical skills in analysing texts and artifacts as sources of social history
- To pursue and independent (though guided) research project using primary evidence. In this they will develop an original argument based on these materials and sustain the argument through an extended 10,000 word essay.
Scope and syllabus
Topics treated will include:
- theories of physiology, health, and illness;
- the social construction of gesture and movement;
- sartorial codes, sumptuary regulations, and ‘body culture’;
- gender and sexuality;
- the representation of the body in art and literature.
In addition to contextual and thematic readings, the course will expose students to a wide variety of primary sources, including religious and ritual texts, courtly literature, art (painting, sculpture, material culture), as well as inscriptions and normative treatises.
Method of assessment
This involves the writing of a 10,000 word essay, which has to be based on primary sources. There is no written examination. Except in the case of Independent Study Projects (ISPs), they must be taken in conjunction with the corresponding Advanced-level course; the two units together constitute a Special Subject.
