TRADITIONAL INDIA: Structure and Change

Book Details

• Author: Milton Singer (Ed.)

• Publisher: Rawat Publications

• Binding: Hardcover

• Pages: 356

• ISBN: 9788131609729

• Language: English

• Publication Year: 2018

• Sale Territory: India

About the Book

Traditional India: Structure & Change, edited by Milton Singer, presents a comprehensive study of India's changing traditional culture, compiled from papers contributed to a symposium. The book explores two major themes: the underlying unity and continuity of Indian civilization and the method and concept in the study of civilization. Singer applies Robert Redfield’s idea of understanding civilizations as a "structure of tradition," addressing how the culture and society of India’s villages relate to the Great Traditions of Indian civilization.

This work delves into the complexities of tradition in India, highlighting the overwhelming unity and continuity of the culture despite its differentiated groups. The book examines this through intensive studies of selected parts of the tradition, focusing on how various segments of society and cultural expressions contribute to the overall structure.

The book is divided into three sections:

• Section I: The Social Organization of Tradition
  It covers the four major orders (varnas) and their traditions, such as the Brahman tradition, martial Rajputs, the Indian craftsman, and the merchant. It explores how these traditions functioned and evolved within Indian society.

• Section II: Cultural Performances and Cultural Media
  This section looks at cultural performances and media, including the Ram Lila, the Indian hero as a Vidyadhara, oral poets of South India like the Todas, and various forms of religious communication in South India. These papers use cultural performances as a method for studying the structure and changes within cultural traditions.

• Section III: Some Problems and Processes of Culture Change
  This section explores the effects of urbanization on traditional culture, looking at the specific challenges and processes of cultural change in different Indian contexts, such as caste in Bengal, the traditions of a low caste, tribal people in industrial settings, and the cultural practices of the Nayyars and Sikhs.

By studying specific aspects of India's social and cultural fabric, the book provides an in-depth look at how Indian traditions have adapted and evolved over time.

Contents

I. The Social Organization of Tradition

• The Brahman Tradition / Daniel Ingalls

• The Idea of the Martial Rajput / John T. Hitchcock

• Traditions of the Indian Craftsman / Stella Kramrisch

• The Indian Merchant / Helen Lamb

• Class and Cultural Traditions in India / W. Norman Brown

• The Vahivanca Barots of Gujarat: A Caste of Genealogists and Mythographers / A. M. Shah and R. G. Shroff

• Foreword / M. N. Srinivas

II. Cultural Performances and Cultural Media

• The Ram Lila / Norvin Hein

• The Indian Hero as a Vidyadhara / J.A.B. van Buitenen

• Oral Poets of South India: The Todas / M. B. Emeneau

• The Forms of Communication in Veerasaiva Religion / William McCormack

• Methods of Popular Religious Instruction in South India / V. Raghavan

III. Some Problems and Processes of Culture Change

• The Great Tradition in a Metropolitan Center: Madras / Milton Singer

• Religion of the Anavils of Surat / T. B. Naik

• Some Aspects of Caste in Bengal / Nirmal Kumar Bose

• Changing Traditions of a Low Caste / Bernard S. Cohn

• A Tribal People in an Industrial Setting / Martin Orans

• Cults of the Dead Among the Nayyars / E. Kathleen Gough

• A Sikh Village / Indera Singh

• Tribal Cultures of Peninsular India as a Dimension of the Little Tradition: A Preliminary Statement / Surajit Sinha

About the Author

Milton Singer is a distinguished anthropologist and the Paul Klapper Professor of the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago. His research focuses on the comparative study of civilizations, particularly in relation to India, and the intersection of cultural anthropology with psychology and social science philosophy. Singer has traveled extensively in India and Asia and has authored and edited numerous works, including Krishna: Myths, Rites and Attitudes (1966) and Structure and Change in Indian Society (1961).