Indian Culture I

The contents of the teaching will focus on the definition and reconstruction of the doctrinal and socio-political history of two Indian religions, which, in addition to currently counting a significant number of practitioners in India, boast a transnational and global diffusion that will also be the object of the reflection and analyses developed by the teaching programme. The two great currents of philosophical-spiritual-devotional thought considered will be Hinduism and Buddhism and, in both cases, particular attention, within their multi-millennial history, will be paid to the times and ways in which the influence exerted by British colonial domination prompted the redefinition on the one hand, of the founding prerogatives and peculiarities of the Hindu socio-religious dictate, and, on the other, of the contemporary Buddhist geography and the consequent territorial and social distribution of Buddhism in India. In addition to retracing the main stages through which the two spiritual orientations have developed since their initial configuration, an analysis of the socio-cultural dynamics triggered by the policies adopted during British colonial domination of India and how they expressed themselves in a reformulation of the two religious traditions will be proposed. As far as Hinduism is concerned, it will be outlined, considering the criticism leveled primarily by colonial officials and administrators and the accusation of a clear and irremediable cultural inferiority of the Hindu religious tradition in comparison to the Christian one, the reworking by Indian intellectuals and local elites of some of the most distinctive and peculiar features of Hindu orthopraxis will be outlined. In addition, we will follow the development of a whole series of elements from the Hindu cultural, religious, and philosophical tradition that, from traits characterizing India's socio-cultural specificity, have evolved into aspects of an indistinct, transnational, and global spiritual offering. Concerning Buddhism, after outlining its articulation in the three great vehicles of the Indian tradition, the causes of its disappearance from India and its subsequent return in the last century will be analysed, reflecting on the role assigned to it in the debate concerning the amendability or otherwise of the iniquities expressed by the caste institution. On this occasion, the figures of M.K. Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar will be introduced.
Finally, to complete the examination of both the colonial influences in the definition of the socio-cultural structure of contemporary India and the current doctrinal and social configuration of two of the major expressions of the Indian speculative, artistic, literary and cultic tradition, the historical-political and cultural process that led India to equip itself with the current legal framework will be traced. Of the latter, through a diachronic and synchronic analysis of India's constitutional dictate, the main and major specificities will be identified.
UNIT I
The first unit will be devoted, first, to a terminological reflection regarding the appropriateness, effectiveness, and origins of the term "Hinduism." Second, it will follow the development of the oldest known religious-spiritual heritage, manifested and systematized within the boundaries of the Indian subcontinent, through the following four, major, moments: Vedic religion, Brahmanism, Hinduism, and Neo-Hinduism. The chronology of each phase, the reasons, where identifiable, for the transition from one to the other, the respective literature of reference, and the doctrinal framework of each will be reflected upon. Particularly significant moments in the elaboration of the magmatic Hindu tradition will be traced in the composition of the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa, in the teaching imparted by the Bhagavadgītā, in the classical philosophical schools of Sāṃkhya, Yoga, and Vedānta, in Tantric revelation, and bhakti theologies. Through an examination of the so-called Bengali Renaissance, we will delve into the latest and most recent phase of the reworking of Hindu socio-religious thought, the so-called neo-Hinduism, whose major proponents will also be analyzed, including, primarily, Vivekananda and M.K. Gandhi. Finally, the transformation of some elements of the Hindu tradition into global structures of transnational contemporaneity will be analysed. The reworking of yoga from a philosophical-spiritual discipline with soteriological aims into a global, locally characterized phenomenon will be reflected upon and the new meanings attributed to such load-bearing structures of the Hindu cultural universe as those of guru and āśrama will also be observed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

- G. Filoramo (a cura di), Hinduismo, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2002 (II edizione).
- S. Piano, Sanātana Dharma. Un incontro con l'induismo, San Paolo Edizioni, Milano, 2019.

At least one of the following novels:

- W. Dalrymple, Anarchia, Adelphi, 2022. (W. Dalrymple, The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company, Bloomsbury, 2019)
- R. Mistry, Un perfetto equilibrio, Mondadori, 2023. (R. Mistry, A Fine Balance, McClelland and Stewart, 1995)
- N. Mukherjee, La vita degli altri, Neri Pozza, 2016. (N. Mukherjee, The Lives of Others, Chatto & Windus, 2014)
- A. Mukherjee, L'uomo di Calcutta, Sem, 2018. (A. Mukherjee, A Rising Man, 2016)
- J.G. Farrell, L'assedio di Krishnapur, Beat, 2018. (J.G. Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1973)

UNIT II:

The second unit will be devoted to the Indian parable of Buddhism, from the introduction of the figure of the historical Buddha. His existence will be, on the one hand, traced back to the historical dynamics and socio-cultural drives that ran through, between the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent, and, on the other, to the hagiographic narratives of the life of Prince Siddhārtha Gautama and his earlier earthly existences. After analysing the foundations of Buddhist speculation, the birth and development of the Buddhist community, and the spread of the doctrine within and beyond the Indian peninsula, its development will be followed through the next two major currents of Indian Buddhism: the Mahāyāna and the Vajrayāna. In addition to introducing the doctrinal specificities of both, the evolutionary path of Buddhism in India will also be reconstructed through an examination of the iconographic apparatus, eloquent, in the diversity of the representation of the Buddha and the subjects immortalized, of the peculiarities of the three currents of Indian Buddhism. Having investigated the reasons for the sudden disappearance of Buddhism from India between the end of the first millennium of our era and the first centuries of the second millennium, concrete signs of its pan-Indian return from the mid-19th century onward will be traced. In particular, the role assigned to Buddhism in the dispute, between B.R. Ambedkar and M.K. Gandhi, concerning the amendability or otherwise of the iniquities connected with the caste institution will be analyzed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

- G.R. Franci, Il buddhismo, il Mulino, Bologna, 2004.
- A. Coomaraswamy, Vita di Buddha, Se, 2014.
At least one of the following novels (which is not the same as the one chosen for Unit 1):
- W. Dalrymple, Anarchia, Adelphi, 2022. (W. Dalrymple, The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company, Bloomsbury, 2019)
- R. Mistry, Un perfetto equilibrio, Mondadori, 2023. (R. Mistry, A Fine Balance, McClelland and Stewart, 1995)
- N. Mukherjee, La vita degli altri, Neri Pozza, 2016. (N. Mukherjee, The Lives of Others, Chatto & Windus, 2014)
- A. Mukherjee, L'uomo di Calcutta, Sem, 2018. (A. Mukherjee, A Rising Man, 2016)
- J.G. Farrell, L'assedio di Krishnapur, Beat, 2018. (J.G. Farrell, The Siege of Krishnapur, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1973)

UNIT III: In the third unit, the legal tradition of ancient India and its evolution will be touched upon. In particular, the method of dispute resolution followed by the courts established during colonial rule, which referred to dharma treaties and Islamic law, will be discussed. The imposition of the Common Law and the related cultural milieu will be illustrated. Following a historical excursus, the legal system of post-independence India will be analyzed. The genesis of the Indian Constitution and the federal system of the Union will be discussed. Fundamental rights will be outlined, with particular attention to freedom in matters of religion and the right not to be discriminated against on account of professed beliefs. The focus will be on personal statutes concerning family law and inheritance law, institutions for which different regulations are envisaged based on religion or rather on the community the person belongs to; the application of these regulations within the Italian legal system will also be mentioned. Other aspects of contemporary Indian law, such as commercial law, intellectual property protection, and labour law, will be briefly illustrated, also concerning issues related to possible discrimination based on religion, and with some hint of comparison with the Italian system. Practical cases will also be dealt with through in-class simulations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
- Lorenza Acquarone, Tra Dharma Common Law e WTO. Un'introduzione al sistema giuridico dell'India, Unicopli, 2016.
- Lorenza Acquarone, Voci audaci. La stand-up comedy in India sfida tabù e censura, Le Lucerne, 2023.