000 a
999 _c31767
_d31767
008 230415b xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020 _a9780226494906
082 _a294.5350954792
_bELI
100 _aElison, William
245 _aNeighborhood of gods : the sacred and the visible at the margins of Mumbai
260 _bUniversity of Chicago Press,
_c2018
_aChicago :
300 _axiii, 315 p. ;
_bill., (b & w),
_c23 cm
365 _b38.00
_cUSD
_d85.90
490 _aSouth Asia across the disciplines
504 _aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
520 _aThere are many holy cities in India, but Mumbai is not usually considered one of them. More popular images of the city capture the world's collective imagination--as a Bollywood fantasia or a slumland dystopia. Yet for many, if not most, people who live in the city, the neighborhood streets are indeed shared with local gods and guardian spirits. In The Neighborhood of Gods, William Elison examines the link between territory and divinity in India's most self-consciously modern city. In this densely settled environment, space is scarce, and anxiety about housing is pervasive. Consecrating space--first with impromptu displays and then, eventually, with full-blown temples and official recognition--is one way of staking a claim. But how can a marginalized community make its gods visible, and therefore powerful, in the eyes of others? The Neighborhood of Gods explores this question, bringing an ethnographic lens to a range of visual and spatial practices: from the shrine construction that encroaches on downtown streets, to the "tribal art" practices of an indigenous group facing displacement, to the work of image production at two Bollywood film studios. A pioneering ethnography, this book offers a creative intervention in debates on postcolonial citizenship, urban geography, and visuality in the religions of India.
650 _aDalit
650 _aMotion pictures
650 _aReligion
650 _aSlum
650 _aAdivasi
650 _aBollywood
650 _aFilmstan studio
650 _a Hinduuism
650 _aMarathi
650 _aMumbai
650 _aSai Baba
650 _aShiv Sena
650 _aTribal
650 _aWarli
650 _aGanesh festival.
942 _2ddc
_cBK