Cultural Translation and Karmic Ideology

In this first of two special lectures organized by SAI, SAPU and Asianettverket, Dr. Phil Øyvind Jaer revisits themes from his book Capital and Karma in a dialogue with Dumont’s Homo Hierarchicus.

In this lecture, Dr. Phil. Øyvind Jaer revisits themes from his book Capital and Karma in a dialogue with Dumont’s Homo Hierarchicus. Highlighting the need for both texts and fieldwork as source mate­rial for the ‘writing’ of ethnography in a civilizational context like India, Jaer discusses the question of cultural translation. While Dumont argued for the ‘individual’ as bridgehead for cultural translation, Jaer rather argues for the ‘duality’ of action/karma–structure/dharma as the bridgehead to ‘enter’ Hinduism and classical Hindu Society. From the ‘entry point’ of karma-dharma we deduce ‘Man as a Karmic Being’, and follow the chain of meaning connections which constitute Karmic ideology and justify inequality and caste hierarchy. Jaer also investigates the rational limits and political relevance of Karmic ideology, as well as the classic question of the ‘civilizational unity of India’.

This March, Dr. Phil. Øyvind Jaer gives two lectures on selected themes from his studies Capital and Karma: Hinduism and Capitalism Compared (1983/1998) and Karchana: Lifeworld-Ethnography of an Indian village (1990-1995). This lecture is the first of the two.

Light refreshments will be served.

Find more info here.