Wendy Doniger
Encyclopedia
Wendy Doniger (born November 20, 1940) is an American Indologist and Mircea Eliade
Distinguished Service Professor
of the History of Religions
at the University of Chicago Divinity School
, the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, and the Committee on Social Thought
. She has taught at the University of Chicago since 1978.
Much of her work is focused on translating, interpreting and comparing elements of Hindu mythology
through modern contexts of gender, sexuality and identity
. She describes herself as "a Sanskrit
ist, indeed a recovering Orientalist
" and "an old-fashioned philologist
".
and Martha Graham
. She graduated summa cum laude in Sanskrit and Indian Studies from Radcliffe College
in 1962, and received her M.A.
from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
in June 1963. She then studied in India
in 1963–1964 with a 12-month Junior Fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies. She gained her first Ph.D.
from Harvard University
in June 1968, with a dissertation on 'Asceticism and Sexuality in the Mythology of Siva
,' supervised by Daniel H. H. Ingalls, Sr.
. She obtained her second, a D. Phil.
in Oriental Studies
from Oxford University, in February 1973, with a dissertation on ‘The Origins of Heresy in Hindu Mythology,’ supervised by R.C.Zaehner
. She has since been awarded six honorary doctorates.
Doniger holds the Mircea Eliade
Distinguished Service Professor Chair in History of Religions at the University of Chicago, and has served on the editorial board of History of Religions
since 1979, as well as editing a dozen other publications over her lifetime. In 1984 she was elected President of the American Academy of Religion
, and in 1997 President of the Association for Asian Studies
. She serves on the International Editorial Board of the Encyclopædia Britannica
.
In June 2000, she was awarded the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award
for excellence in multi-cultural literature, non-fiction, for Splitting the Difference; and in October, 2002, the Rose Mary Crawshay
prize from the British Academy
, for the best book about English literature written by a woman, for The Bedtrick. The American Academy of Religion awarded her the 2008 Martin E. Marty
Award for the Public Understanding of Religion. She was invited to give the 2010 Art Institute of Chicago
President's Lecture at the Chicago Humanities Festival
, which was entitled, "The Lingam
Made Flesh: Split-Level Symbolism in Hindu Art"
and other fields have been positively reviewed by Indian scholar Vijaya Nagarajan and American Hindu scholar Lindsey B. Harlan, who noted as part of a positive review that "Doniger's agenda is her desire to rescue the comparative project from the jaws of certain proponents of postmodernism
". Of her Hindu Myths: A Sourcebook Translated from the Sanskrit, Indologist Richard Gombrich
wrote: "Intellectually, it is a triumph..." Gombrich called Doniger's Asceticism and Eroticism in the Mythology of Siva "learned and exciting". Doniger's Rigveda
, a translation of 108 hymns selected from the canon, was deemed among the most reliable by historian of religion Ioan P. Culianu
She has also been called "one of the most distinguished mythologists
of our time" by Sudhir Kakar
.
Doniger's 2009 book The Hindus: An Alternative History received many positive reviews, e.g. from the Library Journal
, the Times Literary Supplement, the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, and The Hindu
. According to the Hindustan Times
, The Hindus was a #1 bestseller
in the non-fiction category in India in 2009. In January 2010, the National Book Critics Circle
named The Hindus as a finalist for its 2009 book awards. The Hindu American Foundation
protested this decision, alleging inaccuracies and bias in the book.
for using psychoanalytical
concepts to interpret non-Western subjects. Malhotra claimed that Hinduism was being demonized to create shame amongst Hindu youth. Christian Lee Novetzke, associate professor of South Asian Studies at the University of Washington
, summarizes this controversy as follows: "Wendy Doniger, a premier scholar of Indian religious thought and history expressed through Sanskritic sources, has faced regular criticism from those who consider her work to be disrespectful of Hinduism in general." Professor Novetzke cites Doniger's use of "psychoanalytical theory" as "a kind of lightning rod for the censure that these scholars receive from freelance critics and 'watch-dog' organizations that claim to represent the sentiments of Hindus."
Martha C. Nussbaum
, concurring with Novetzke, adds that while the agenda of those in the American Hindu community who criticize Doniger appears similar to that of the Hindu right-wing in India
, it is not quite the same since it has "no overt connection to national identity", and that it has created feelings of guilt among American scholars, given the prevailing ethos of ethnic respect, that they might have offended people from another culture. While Doniger has agreed that Indians have ample grounds to reject postcolonial domination
, she claims that her works are only a single perspective which does not subordinate Indian self-identity.
In March 2010, Hindu American Foundation co-founder and urologist Aseem Shukla
debated elements of the book The Hindus: An Alternative History with Doniger on a Washington Post-sponsored blog
on faith and religion, and accused her of sexualising and exoticising some of the holiest passages in the Hindu scriptures. Doniger replied that her book has sold well in India and asked her critics to show specifically where her interpretations of texts were wrong.
The following work, "Invading the Sacred: An Analysis of Hinduism Studies in America" by
Krishnan Ramaswamy (Author, Editor), Antonio de Nicolas (Author, Editor), Aditi Banerjee (Author, Editor) and other independent online responses present detailed corrections and rebuttals to her work.
Earle Waugh, Professor Emeritus
of Divinity at the University of Alberta
, refers to the controversy as an example of the conflict between religious tradition and the use of Western analytic tools such as Freudian psychology.
, The Times Literary Supplement, The Times
, The Washington Post
, U. S. News and World Report, International Herald Tribune
, Parabola
, The Chronicle of Higher Education
, Daedalus
, The Nation
, and the Journal of Asian Studies
.
Published under the name of Wendy Doniger:
Published under the name of Wendy Doniger:
Published under the name of Wendy Doniger:
Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...
Distinguished Service Professor
Professors in the United States
In the U.S., "Professors" commonly occupy any of several positions in academia, typically the ranks of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Full Professor....
of the History of Religions
History of religions
The history of religion refers to the written record of human religious experiences and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,000 years ago in the Near East. The prehistory of religion relates to a study of religious beliefs that existed prior to the...
at the University of Chicago Divinity School
University of Chicago Divinity School
The University of Chicago Divinity School is a graduate institution at the University of Chicago dedicated to the training of academics and clergy across religious boundaries...
, the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, and the Committee on Social Thought
Committee on Social Thought
The Committee on Social Thought is one of several PhD-granting committees at the University of Chicago. It was started in 1941 by historian John Ulric Nef along with economist Frank Knight, anthropologist Robert Redfield, and University President Robert Maynard Hutchins.The committee is...
. She has taught at the University of Chicago since 1978.
Much of her work is focused on translating, interpreting and comparing elements of Hindu mythology
Hindu mythology
Hindu religious literature is the large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and the Puranas. As such, it is a subset of Nepali and Indian culture...
through modern contexts of gender, sexuality and identity
Identity (social science)
Identity is a term used to describe a person's conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations . The term is used more specifically in psychology and sociology, and is given a great deal of attention in social psychology...
. She describes herself as "a Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
ist, indeed a recovering Orientalist
Orientalism
Orientalism is a term used for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists, as well as having other meanings...
" and "an old-fashioned philologist
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
".
Biography
Doniger was born in New York City to immigrant non-observant Jewish parents, and raised in Great Neck NY, where her father, Lester L Doniger (1909–1971), ran a publishing business. While in high school, she studied dance under George BalanchineGeorge Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
and Martha Graham
Martha Graham
Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
. She graduated summa cum laude in Sanskrit and Indian Studies from Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
in 1962, and received her M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is the academic unit responsible for many post-baccalaureate degree programs offered through the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University...
in June 1963. She then studied in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in 1963–1964 with a 12-month Junior Fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies. She gained her first Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in June 1968, with a dissertation on 'Asceticism and Sexuality in the Mythology of Siva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
,' supervised by Daniel H. H. Ingalls, Sr.
Daniel H. H. Ingalls, Sr.
Daniel Henry Holmes Ingalls, Sr. was the Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University. Born and raised in New York City, Ingalls received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Harvard before serving as an officer in the US Army in World War II. After the war, Ingalls returned to Harvard as...
. She obtained her second, a D. Phil.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in Oriental Studies
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...
from Oxford University, in February 1973, with a dissertation on ‘The Origins of Heresy in Hindu Mythology,’ supervised by R.C.Zaehner
Robert Charles Zaehner
Robert Charles Zaehner was a British academic who specialised in Eastern religions. He was also an intelligence officer.-Life:Born on 8 April 1913 in Sevenoaks, Kent, the son of Swiss immigrants to England, Zaehner was educated nearby at Tonbridge School...
. She has since been awarded six honorary doctorates.
Doniger holds the Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...
Distinguished Service Professor Chair in History of Religions at the University of Chicago, and has served on the editorial board of History of Religions
History of Religions (journal)
History of Religions is an academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press. It was founded in 1961 by Mircea Eliade. It publishes articles which study religious phenomena from prehistory to modern times, both within particular traditions and across cultural boundaries...
since 1979, as well as editing a dozen other publications over her lifetime. In 1984 she was elected President of the American Academy of Religion
American Academy of Religion
The American Academy of Religion is the world's largest association of scholars in the field of religious studies and related topics. It is a nonprofit member association,...
, and in 1997 President of the Association for Asian Studies
Association for Asian Studies
The Association for Asian Studies is a U.S. society focused on facilitating contact and information exchange among scholars of Asian fields. It is the self-proclaimed largest society of its kind. The Association consists of eminent Asianists, and is a non-profit organization...
. She serves on the International Editorial Board of the Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
.
In June 2000, she was awarded the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award
PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award
According to its website, PEN Oakland was founded in 1989 by Ishmael Reed, who came up with the idea, and co-founders Floyd Salas, Reginald Lockett and Claire Ortalda, in order to “promote works of excellence by writers of all cultural and racial backgrounds and to educate both the public and the...
for excellence in multi-cultural literature, non-fiction, for Splitting the Difference; and in October, 2002, the Rose Mary Crawshay
Rose Mary Crawshay
Rose Mary Crawshay was born Rose Mary Yeates in Berkshire in England.She married Robert Thompson Crawshay in 1846 who was last of the Merthyr Tydfil ironmasters, and became the mistress of Cyfarthfa Castle....
prize from the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
, for the best book about English literature written by a woman, for The Bedtrick. The American Academy of Religion awarded her the 2008 Martin E. Marty
Martin E. Marty
Martin Emil Marty is an American Lutheran religious scholar who has written extensively on 19th century and 20th century American religion. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1956, and served as a Lutheran pastor from 1952 to 1962 in the suburbs of Chicago...
Award for the Public Understanding of Religion. She was invited to give the 2010 Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
President's Lecture at the Chicago Humanities Festival
Chicago Humanities Festival
The Chicago Humanities Festival is a foundation which organizes an annual series of lectures, concerts, and films in Chicago. The main festival takes place in the first and second weeks of November. The festival was started in 1990 by the Illinois Humanities Council and became an independent...
, which was entitled, "The Lingam
Lingam
The Lingam is a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples....
Made Flesh: Split-Level Symbolism in Hindu Art"
Reception
Since she began writing in the 1960s, Doniger has gained the reputation of being "one of America's major scholars in the humanities". Her books both in HinduismHinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and other fields have been positively reviewed by Indian scholar Vijaya Nagarajan and American Hindu scholar Lindsey B. Harlan, who noted as part of a positive review that "Doniger's agenda is her desire to rescue the comparative project from the jaws of certain proponents of postmodernism
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
". Of her Hindu Myths: A Sourcebook Translated from the Sanskrit, Indologist Richard Gombrich
Richard Gombrich
Richard Francis Gombrich is a British Indologist and scholar of Sanskrit, Pāli, and Buddhist Studies. He acted as the Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford from 1976 to 2004. He is currently Founder-President of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies...
wrote: "Intellectually, it is a triumph..." Gombrich called Doniger's Asceticism and Eroticism in the Mythology of Siva "learned and exciting". Doniger's Rigveda
Rigveda
The Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
, a translation of 108 hymns selected from the canon, was deemed among the most reliable by historian of religion Ioan P. Culianu
Ioan P. Culianu
Ioan Petru Culianu or Couliano was a Romanian historian of religion, culture, and ideas, a philosopher and political essayist, and a short story writer...
She has also been called "one of the most distinguished mythologists
Mythography
A mythographer, or a mythologist is a compiler of myths. The word derives from the Greek "μυθογραφία" , "writing of fables", from "μῦθος" , "speech, word, fact, story, narrative" + "γράφω" , "to write, to inscribe". Mythography is then the rendering of myths in the arts...
of our time" by Sudhir Kakar
Sudhir Kakar
Sudhir Kakar is a Freudian psychoanalyst and writer. He studied in Gujarat, Mannheim, Frankfurt am Main and Vienna. Kakar received a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering, a Master’s degree in business economics and became Doctor of Economics...
.
Doniger's 2009 book The Hindus: An Alternative History received many positive reviews, e.g. from the Library Journal
Library Journal
Library Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
, the Times Literary Supplement, the New York Review of Books, the New York Times, and The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
. According to the Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded in 1924 with roots in the Indian independence movement of the period ....
, The Hindus was a #1 bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
in the non-fiction category in India in 2009. In January 2010, the National Book Critics Circle
National Book Critics Circle
The National Book Critics Circle is an American tax-exempt organization for active book reviewers. Its flagship is the National Book Critics Circle Award....
named The Hindus as a finalist for its 2009 book awards. The Hindu American Foundation
Hindu American Foundation
The Hindu American Foundation is an American Hindu human rights group advocating on behalf of the Hindu community in the United States. Dr...
protested this decision, alleging inaccuracies and bias in the book.
Controversy
Beginning in the early 2000s, a disagreement arose within the Hindu community over whether Doniger accurately described their traditions. Together with many of her colleagues, she was the subject of a critique by Rajiv MalhotraRajiv Malhotra
Rajiv Malhotra is an author and the founder of Infinity Foundation. He is also a former telecommunication entrepreneur. After a career in the software, computer, and telecom industries Malhotra took an early retirement to pursue philanthropic and educational activities...
for using psychoanalytical
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
concepts to interpret non-Western subjects. Malhotra claimed that Hinduism was being demonized to create shame amongst Hindu youth. Christian Lee Novetzke, associate professor of South Asian Studies at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, summarizes this controversy as follows: "Wendy Doniger, a premier scholar of Indian religious thought and history expressed through Sanskritic sources, has faced regular criticism from those who consider her work to be disrespectful of Hinduism in general." Professor Novetzke cites Doniger's use of "psychoanalytical theory" as "a kind of lightning rod for the censure that these scholars receive from freelance critics and 'watch-dog' organizations that claim to represent the sentiments of Hindus."
Martha C. Nussbaum
Martha Nussbaum
Martha Nussbaum , is an American philosopher with a particular interest in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, political philosophy and ethics....
, concurring with Novetzke, adds that while the agenda of those in the American Hindu community who criticize Doniger appears similar to that of the Hindu right-wing in India
Hindutva
Hindutva is the term used to describe movements advocating Hindu nationalism. Members of the movement are called Hindutvavādis.In India, an umbrella organization called the Sangh Parivar champions the concept of Hindutva...
, it is not quite the same since it has "no overt connection to national identity", and that it has created feelings of guilt among American scholars, given the prevailing ethos of ethnic respect, that they might have offended people from another culture. While Doniger has agreed that Indians have ample grounds to reject postcolonial domination
Postcolonialism
Post-colonialism is a specifically post-modern intellectual discourse that consists of reactions to, and analysis of, the cultural legacy of colonialism...
, she claims that her works are only a single perspective which does not subordinate Indian self-identity.
In March 2010, Hindu American Foundation co-founder and urologist Aseem Shukla
Aseem Shukla
Dr. Aseem Shukla is an associate professor in urologic surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He is also a co-founder and board member of the Hindu American Foundation. He also writes a weblog for The Washington Post on Hinduism-related topics...
debated elements of the book The Hindus: An Alternative History with Doniger on a Washington Post-sponsored blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
on faith and religion, and accused her of sexualising and exoticising some of the holiest passages in the Hindu scriptures. Doniger replied that her book has sold well in India and asked her critics to show specifically where her interpretations of texts were wrong.
The following work, "Invading the Sacred: An Analysis of Hinduism Studies in America" by
Krishnan Ramaswamy (Author, Editor), Antonio de Nicolas (Author, Editor), Aditi Banerjee (Author, Editor) and other independent online responses present detailed corrections and rebuttals to her work.
Earle Waugh, Professor Emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
of Divinity at the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
, refers to the controversy as an example of the conflict between religious tradition and the use of Western analytic tools such as Freudian psychology.
Works
Doniger has written 16 books, translated (primarily from Sanskrit to English) with commentary 9 other volumes, has contributed to many edited texts and has written hundreds of articles in journals, magazines and newspapers. These include New York Times Book Review, London Review of BooksLondon Review of Books
The London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
, The Times Literary Supplement, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, U. S. News and World Report, International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
, Parabola
Parabola
In mathematics, the parabola is a conic section, the intersection of a right circular conical surface and a plane parallel to a generating straight line of that surface...
, The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty, staff members and administrators....
, Daedalus
Daedalus
In Greek mythology, Daedalus was a skillful craftsman and artisan.-Family:...
, The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, and the Journal of Asian Studies
Journal of Asian Studies
The Journal of Asian Studies is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Asian Studies, covering Asian studies. The journal was first established in 1941 as The Far Eastern Quarterly, obtaining its new title in September 1956...
.
Interpretive works
Published under the name of Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty:- Served as Vedic consultant and co-author, and contributed a chapter ("Part II: The Post-Vedic History of the Soma Plant," pp. 95–147) in Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality, by R. Gordon Wasson (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1968). 381 pp.
- Asceticism and Eroticism in the Mythology of Siva (Oxford University Press, 1973). 386 pp.
- The Ganges (London: Macdonald Educational, 1975).
- The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology (Berkeley: University of CaliforniaUniversity of CaliforniaThe University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, 1976). 411 pp. - Women, Androgynes, and Other Mythical Beasts (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980). 382 pp.
- Dreams, Illusion, and Other Realities (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984 ). 361 pp.
- Tales of Sex and Violence: Folklore, Sacrifice, and Danger in the Jaiminiya Brahmana (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985). 145 pp.
- Other Peoples' Myths: The Cave of Echoes. (New York: Macmillan, 1988). 225 pp.
Published under the name of Wendy Doniger:
- The Implied Spider: Politics and Theology in Myth. The 1996–1997 ACLS/AAR Lectures. New York: Columbia University PressColumbia University PressColumbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by James D. Jordan and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fields of literary and cultural studies, history, social work, sociology,...
, 1998; 200 pp. - Splitting the Difference: Gender and Myth in Ancient Greece and India. The 1996 Jordan Lectures. Chicago and London: University of London Press and University of Chicago Press, 1999. 376 pp.
- Der Mann, der mit seiner eigenen Frau Ehebruch beging. Mit einem Kommentar von Lorraine DastonLorraine DastonLorraine Daston is an American historian of science, presently the executive director of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin...
. Berlin: Suhrkamp, 1999. 150 pp. - The Bedtrick: Tales of Sex and Masquerade. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. 599 pp. Won the Rose Mary Crawshay prize from the British Academy for the best book about English literature written by a woman, 2002.
- La Trappola della Giumenta. Trans. Vincenzo Vergiani. Milan: Adelphi Edizione, 2003.
- The Woman Who Pretended to Be Who She Was. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. 272 pp.
- The Hindus: An Alternative History. New York: Penguin Press, 2009. 789 pp.
Translations
Published under the name of Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty:- Hindu Myths: A Sourcebook, translated from the Sanskrit. Harmondsworth: Penguin Classics, 1975; 357 pp.
- The Rig Veda: An Anthology, 108 Hymns Translated from the Sanskrit (Harmondsworth: Penguin Classics, 1981).
- (with David GreneDavid GreneDavid Grene was a professor of classics at the University of Chicago from 1937 until his death. He was a co-founder of the Committee on Social Thought and is best known for his translations of ancient Greek literature.-Life:...
) Antigone (Sophocles). A new translation for the Court Theatre, Chicago, production of February, 1983. - Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism, in the series Textual Sources for the Study of Religion, edited by John R. Hinnells (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990). 211 pp.
- (with David Grene). Oresteia. A New Translation for the Court Theatre Production of 1986. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988). 249 pp.
Published under the name of Wendy Doniger:
- Mythologies. A restructured translation of Yves BonnefoyYves BonnefoyYves Bonnefoy is a French poet and essayist. Bonnefoy was born in Tours, Indre-et-Loire, the son of a railroad worker and a teacher....
's Dictionnaire des Mythologies, prepared under the direction of Wendy Doniger (Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1991). 2 vols., c. 1,500 pp. - The Laws of Manu. A new translation, with Brian K. Smith, of the ManavadharmasastraManu Smriti' , also known as Mānava-Dharmaśāstra , is the most important and earliest metrical work of the Dharmaśāstra textual tradition of Hinduism...
(Harmondsworth: Penguin Classics, 1991). - Vātsyāyana Kāmasūtra. A new translation by Wendy Doniger and Sudhir KakarSudhir KakarSudhir Kakar is a Freudian psychoanalyst and writer. He studied in Gujarat, Mannheim, Frankfurt am Main and Vienna. Kakar received a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering, a Master’s degree in business economics and became Doctor of Economics...
. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. - The Lady of the Jewel Necklace and The Lady Who Shows Her Love. HarshaHarshaHarsha or Harsha Vardhana or Harshvardhan was an Indian emperor who ruled northern India from 606 to 647 AD. He was the son of Prabhakara Vardhana and younger brother of Rajya Vardhana, a king of Thanesar, Haryana...
’s PriyadarsikaPriyadarsikaPriyadarsika is a Sanskrit play attributed to king Harsha .-External links:*, translated by G. K. Nariman and A. V. Williams Jackson...
and RatnavaliRatnavaliRatnavali is a Sanskrit drama about a beautiful princess named Ratnavali, and a great king named Udayana. It is attributed to the Indian emperor Harsha . It is a Natika in four acts. One of the first textual references to the celebration of Holi, the festival of Colours have been found in this text...
. Clay Sanskrit SeriesClay Sanskrit LibraryThe Clay Sanskrit Library is a series of books published by New York University Press and the JJC Foundation. Each work features the text in its original language on the left-hand page, with its English translation on the right...
. New York: New York University Press, JJC Foundation, 2006.
Edited volumes
Published under the name of Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty:- The Concept of Duty in South Asia. Edited (with J. D. M. Derrett), with an introduction (pp. xiii–xix) and an essay ("The clash between relative and absolute duty: the dharma of demons," pp. 96–106) by W. D. O'Flaherty. (London: School of Oriental and African Studies). 240 pp.
- The Critical Study of Sacred Texts. Edited, with an introduction (pp. ix–xiii). (Berkeley: Graduate Theological Union, Religious Studies Series, 1979). 290 pp.
- Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions. Edited, with an introduction (pp. i–xv) and an essay ("Karma and rebirth in the Vedas and Puranas," pp. 1–39). (Berkeley: University of California Press; 1980). 340 pp. Reprinted, Banarsidass, 1999.
- The Cave of Siva at Elephanta. by Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, Carmel Berkson, and George Michell (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983).
- Religion and Change. Edited by Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty. History of Religions 25:4 (May, 1986).
Published under the name of Wendy Doniger:
- Animals in Four Worlds: Sculptures from India. Photographs by Stella Snead; text by Wendy Doniger (pp. 3–23) and George Michell (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989).
- Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts. Essays by David Shulman, V. Narayana Rao, A. K. Ramanujan, Friedhelm Hardy, John Cort, Padmanabh Jaini, Laurie Patton, and Wendy Doniger. Edited by Wendy Doniger. (SUNY Press, 1993). 331 pp.
- Off with Her Head! The Denial of Women's Identity in Myth, Religion, and Culture. Ed., with Howard Eilberg-Schwartz. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.
- Myth and Method. Ed., with Laurie Patton. Virginia: University of Virginia Press, 1996.
External links
- Doniger's homepage at the University of Chicago Divinity SchoolUniversity of Chicago Divinity SchoolThe University of Chicago Divinity School is a graduate institution at the University of Chicago dedicated to the training of academics and clergy across religious boundaries...
website