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Shulman to discuss religion and
culture in South India
By Anne Bromley
A
scholar known for his ability to make the most arcane details
of Indian culture accessible and relevant to history, religion
and literature will visit U.Va. next week.
David
Shulman, professor of Indian studies and comparative religion
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, will present three Page-Barbour
and Richard Lectures April 2-4 on “Emptiness, Poetry
and the Making of God in South India.”
Shulman
“has pioneered new fields in the study of South Asia (such
as Telugu studies), and has written interpretations of Hindu literature
that have become definitive in the field,” said Anne Monius,
assistant professor of religious studies who is on the speaker
selection committee.
Besides
studying South Indian literary culture in three languages —
Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil — Shulman has published articles
and edited volumes on more general history of religion and literature
themes, including studies of myths and recent works on riddles
in religious literature and a comparative history of dream interpretation.
Among many awards and accolades, he has received a MacArthur “genius”
grant. Shulman has lectured around the world and is an award-winning
poet in Hebrew.
Shulman’s
books include: Self and Self-Transformations in the History of
Religions: Comparative Studies in the History of Religions; The
Wisdom of Poets: Studies in Tamil, Telugu, and Sanskrit; A Poem
at the Right Moment: Remembered Verses from Pre-modern South India
(collected and translated by Velcheru Narayana Rao and Shulman);
and God Inside-Out: Siva’s Game of Dice.
His
talks will address several important issues relevant to a range
of disciplines, including religious studies, history, art history,
comparative literature and anthropology. He will look at the relationship
of literary texts to religious practices, the ways in which literary
texts can be used to do historical work and the interplay between
Hindu and Buddhist forms of art.
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Tuesday,
April 2 • “The Riddle of Daksharama,” 5-7
p.m., Minor Hall Auditorium
Wednesday,
April 3 • “Cursing and Filling,” 5-7 p.m.,
Campbell 153
Thursday,
April 4 • “Merging God into God,” 5-6:30
p.m., Minor Hall Auditorium
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