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“I am a Hindu; I am an Indian and I am a Man” A Rhetorical Analysis of Contemporary Hindu Nationalist Political Ideology

Binder, Julia
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6289-8616
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1655060860786757

Abstract Details

2022, BA, Oberlin College, Religion.
This paper explores the roots of Hindu Nationalist religiopolitical rhetoric. The argument centers around Ram Madhav’s 2021 book The Hindutva Paradigm: Integral Humanism and the Quest for a Non-Western Worldview. In addition, it examines texts from the websites of various organizations in the Sangh Parivar, a term used for a collection of groups that are aligned in their conservative, Hindu Nationalist agenda. A rhetorical analysis of Hindu Nationalists’ language reveals how the Sangh Parivar attempts to distinguish its worldview from so-called western social structures in order to establish the ancient legitimacy of Brahminical Hinduism. Further, this paper frames contemporary Hindu Nationalist rhetoric within the context of historical British colonial efforts to reify Brahminical Hinduism and consolidate Hindu identity in contrast to a Muslim ethnoreligious “other” for Britain’s political benefit. This framing reveals how Hindu Nationalist rhetoric parallels and builds on colonial political tactics, illuminating the fallacy of Hindu Nationalists’ anticolonial narrative.
Emilia Bachrach (Advisor)
Corey Ladd Barnes (Advisor)
38 p.
Political Science; Religion; Religious History; Rhetoric; Sociology; South Asian Studies
Hindu Nationalism; Hindutva; Integral Humanism; Brahminical Hinduism; Brahmanical Hinduism; Sangh Parivar; Ghar Vapsi; Ghar Wapsi; Post-colonial studies

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Binder, J. (2022). “I am a Hindu; I am an Indian and I am a Man” A Rhetorical Analysis of Contemporary Hindu Nationalist Political Ideology [Undergraduate thesis, Oberlin College]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1655060860786757

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Binder, Julia. “I am a Hindu; I am an Indian and I am a Man” A Rhetorical Analysis of Contemporary Hindu Nationalist Political Ideology. 2022. Oberlin College, Undergraduate thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1655060860786757.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Binder, Julia. "“I am a Hindu; I am an Indian and I am a Man” A Rhetorical Analysis of Contemporary Hindu Nationalist Political Ideology." Undergraduate thesis, Oberlin College, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1655060860786757

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

oberlin1655060860786757
203
© 2022, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Oberlin College Honors Theses and OhioLINK.