Notion Of Purity Research Articles

Digging The ‘Dirt’: Roots and Routes of Stigma

Historically, Dalit identity is associated with different stereotypical notions. In this article, we have attempted to explore the underlying factors behind the stigma associated with them from the micro perspective in a small Muslim-dominated context of Bangladesh based on a series of intensive fieldwork. It reveals that Dalit cleaners are widely considered impure, dirty, strange, chaotic, alcoholic, and inferior. We combined two theoretical perspectives to interpret the matter systematically: Douglas’s notion of purity and pollution and Foucauldian discourse. The apparent reasons for the stigma associated with Dalit cleaners at Bhairab are association with ‘Dirty jobs, pig rearing, pork consumption, liquor consumption, and business. However, the empirical pieces of evidence show that different historical, religious, and socio-political factors (such as ideological domination of Hindu scriptures, the intervention of British colonialism, and the negative role of media and local influential businessmen) contribute significantly to the stigma.

Inter-Caste Marriage and Caste Prejudice: A Study of Perumal Murugan’s Novel ‘Pyre’

The 21st century is an era of science and advancement. Due to this advancement, there is an evident threat of climate change, global warming, health issues and biological warfare. In this scenario, our lives are changing rapidly. But one thing that has not changed yet is the caste-system. People are still embedded in caste. The notion of purity and practice of endogamy have contributed in the establishment of the caste system. Endogamy is a founding element of the caste system. It is because of this that caste has become an unaltered force of Indian society. The consequences of inter-caste marriage are often horrible. Couples are rarely accepted by the family and society. Excommunication, torture, honor killing and murder are the consequences of inter-caste marriage. Inter- caste marriage is a great contribution in the eradication of the caste system. Inter-caste marriages not only cast the caste but also bring social harmony and feeling of interdependence among people belonging to different caste. But unfortunately, inter-caste marriages are unaccepted and considered offensive. The present novel ‘Pyre’ illustrates the ethos that leads a community to give their judgment against inter-caste marriage.

Pure and Other Phenomenologically Oriented Psychology

Abstract This paper inquires into the necessity and limits of what Edmund Husserl calls a “pure” phenomenological psychology. It argues that there may be merit to this notion as a kind of philosophical psychology, the notion of purity in clinical psychology would unnecessarily limit the kinds of factors that the psychologist must take into account in understanding and treating most of the psychological conditions the therapist faces. The paper suggests that phenomenological psychology nonetheless has value in providing a counter-balance to naturalistically inclined psychology that for its part neglects the meaning of various life events for the agent and can serve as means of critical reflection on the operative concepts guiding psychological practice. It can also help correct a deterministic tendency in modern psychology that does not take seriously enough human beings’ capacity for self-reflection and for self-responsibility that can often serve as key elements in psychological therapy and healing.

The puritanical moral contract: Purity, cooperation, and the architecture of the moral mind.

Commentators raise fundamental questions about the notion of purity (sect. R1), the architecture of moral cognition (sect. R2), the functional relationship between morality and cooperation (sect. R3), the role of folk-theories of self-control in moral judgment (sect. R4), and the cultural variation of morality (sect. R5). In our response, we address all these issues by clarifying our theory of puritanism, responding to counter-arguments, and incorporating welcome corrections and extensions.

“Yes, I am Joseph Bhatti Choohra:” Reading Joseph Bhatti as a Palimpsest

This paper explores how Mohammed Hanif’s 2011 novel Our Lady of Alice Bhatti challenges the construct of “Pak-ness” (purity), which is at the heart of the idea of Pakistan and Pakistani national identity. I argue that Joseph Bhatti, the father of the eponymous protagonist Alice Bhatti, is an intricate palimpsest of various historical, political, social, and cultural transformations in India (the Aryan invasion, the inauguration of the Varna system, the Muslim conquests of India, the British colonization of India, and the Partition), but more importantly this character brings to the fore the one constant throughout these monumental transformations – the impurity and Untouchability ascribed to the Chuhra people. In addition, the paper shows how the word “Pakistan” too becomes a palimpsest of various cultural archives, semantic reserves, and political transformations: the word “Pakistan” is acronymized in English, made semantically operative through Persian/Urdu to conflate the Pakistani Muslim identity with the notion of purity, which happens to be of Brahman origin.

Framework to accumulate validity evidence for intended and actual consequences of Korean language proficiency testing

Korea is rapidly becoming a multicultural society. As the notion of purity in ethnic bloodline has long been a requisite for ‘Koreanness’, however, the cultural nationalist identity seems to be maintained on proficiency levels tested by the most powerful, government-instituted Korean language test, TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean). Research on immigrants’ language practices, ideologies and (language) testing requirements has been bleak in Korean contexts, and this article proposes one such framework by combining critical discursive approaches and contemporary argument-based approaches to validation to evaluate a newly developed test, TOPIK-speaking, and related policy issues. Drawing on Shohamy’s critical language testing (CLT), Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis (CDA), and Bachman and Palmer’s assessment use argument (AUA), it illustrates the unique features of a validation framework and uses TOPIK-speaking as an example to collect and evaluate empirical evidence for its intended and actual consequences. The practice of testing consequences should be discursively analysed as a multilayered phenomenon, reinforced by discursive conflicts, such as represented in the media.

Induction, Constructivity, and Grounding

This paper is divided into two parts, the first being a point of departure for the second. I will begin by discussing a well-known negative argument due to Mark Lange concerning the explanatory role of mathematical induction. In the first part of the paper, I offer yet another response to Lange’s argument and attempt to characterize the sort of explanatory role played by inductive proofs. That account depends on two structural principles about explanatory proof that look like a fragment of a constructive semantics for that concept. The remainder of the paper fills out this semantics and explores its consequences. It will be clear that this framework does not constitute a fully general characterization of the concept of mathematical proof; the question will be whether there is a natural class of proofs that it does characterize. My answer will be that it nicely describes what I shall call grounding explanatory proofs. A proof of this sort explains the sentence proved in terms of the grounds of the fact that it describes. I will conclude by briefly exploring the connections between grounding proofs and the notion of purity.

The “pure Gypsy” revisited: The construction of citizenship for Swedish Romani groups, 1940s–1960s

The article deals with the notion of purity and its relation to Good Citizenship and the development of Roma policies in Sweden during the twentieth century. The case of the differentiation between “zigenare” and “tattare” is presented as an example of how ideas about purity informed processes of categorization, inclusion, and exclusion during the formative and expansive years of the Swedish welfare state. The medical sciences had a dominant role in these processes. Examining and defining “pure zigenare” was one of the ways in which experts would differentiate between legitimate and illegitimate Romanies – or Tolerated and Failed Citizens – in the post-war period. These differentiations had real and lasting consequences as they worked to support certain Romani groups while ignoring others, all of which are today included in the Swedish national Roma minority.

Woman as Honor, Man as Reformer: Transition of Women’s Work Roles in the Hindu Fishing Caste of Kerala, India

This study explores the changing economic roles of women belonging to the Hindu fishing caste1 1 Caste is a system of social hierarchy based on the notion of purity and pollution. There are broadly...

The concept of a clean and unclean body — an example of Udmurts

The article examines the poly-semantic concept of cleanliness in traditional Udmurt practices in respect to religious, ritualized and daily life, focusing on the definite object of a human body. The idea of cleanliness is directly connected with the notion of purity. The “unclean” or “dirty” body is a symbolic phenomenon, and its semantics can be revealed in context. Cleanliness is an important virtue, and maintaining the cleanliness of a body is not an individual but a controlled common social duty. In the tradition of the Udmurts, the sauna was and still is a very important part of daily and ritual life. It is understood that in the sauna one is cleaned physically and spiritually. The act of bathing in the sauna means also purifying morally. Special cleansing and purifying regulations are required before calendrical and commemorative rituals. The sauna also has a role in rituals connected to birth and death. The article gives a brief survey of several rituals around the notion of cleanliness and purity.

Being trustworthy: going beyond evidence to desiring

If educators are to educate they must be accorded some level of trust. Anthony Giddens claims that because trust is not easily created, it is now being replaced with ‘confidence’ because this latter disposition is much easier to give and is more convenient. It is argued in this paper that this shift from trust to confidence stifles education because emphasis is placed solely upon qualifications and competence, and is neglectful of disclosing one’s motives and desires—which are considered to be essential elements for relationships and communities which depend upon trust. Therefore, educators ought to seek to become more trustworthy by going beyond evidence-based practices and codes of ethics, towards articulating a developed personal philosophy of education outlining the ultimate end-purposes to which they aspire. Through such a philosophy, educators identify their ultimate desires and commitments and this self-disclosure can make trust-giving more likely. Demonstrated evidence of achievements and qualifications encourage confidence and this has some value. In addition to these artefacts of evidence, it is argued here that educators must also articulate what they actually desire. This can be understood as John Dewey’s virtue of ‘genuine interest’ which he characterises as being wholehearted, persistent and impartial. For educators, this is often represented in our personal philosophy of education and because it is personal, it is also existential in the sense that it pertains to giving sense, meaning and purpose to all of our activities and way of life for which we are individually responsible and passionately committed to as professionals. As a consequence of being existential, our philosophy and our commitment to it has an intellectual and moral aspect and because it reaches to the very depths of our raison d’être, it pertains to our passion as described by Søren Kierkegaard. This paper shall draw upon Dewey’s notion of wholeheartedness and Kierkegaard’s notion of purity of heart, to make the case that if educators embrace these in their practices, we may become more trustworthy.

Social and Economic Exclusion among Social Groups in India

Social and economic exclusion is a dynamic and multi dimensional processes, driven by unequal power relationship in the society. It hinders to achieve equity and justice. India is the country known for its diversity and complexity known in its socio-economic and cultural policy. Poverty and unemployment are the major constraints in the path of development. Informalisation of work further deteriorates the working condition of Schedule caste, schedule tribe and minority. The root of such causes lies in its social structure. The unique social system known as caste is an important feature of this country. This system is still critical and complex in the study of social sciences. The adverse effects of the caste system is prevalent in today's society especially in rural areas, continue to be widespread and impoverish a certain part of society. The caste system brings the division of labor based on caste, which is inherited from birth. This system is subject to the notion of purity and pollution. Agricultural labour and casual labour in rural and urban areas respectively are largely contributed by the people from schedule caste and schedule tribe, who are left with meagre wage, uncertain works and without social security. Development induced displacement and land acquisition have left them with depeasantization and casual works. Social exclusion forms are divided into several groups that have been perpetuated since ancient times and have taken a new shape under the market economy and globalisation, citing as invisible forms or new discrimination. The relative socio-economic disadvantages among Muslim prove their exclusion from the majority-infested Hindu in general and the upper caste in particular.

Virginity in Young Adult Literature after Twilight by Christine Seifert (review)

Reviewed by: Virginity in Young Adult Literature after Twilight by Christine Seifert Tharini Viswanath (bio) Virginity in Young Adult Literature after Twilight. By Christine Seifert. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. According to Christine Seifert, “progressive” young adult romance novels have a lot in common with ideas that are thousands of years old. In this study, she analyzes some of the most popular young adult novels since 2005—based on reader favorites on Goodreads and Amazon—that present characters who want to have sex but cannot for the sake of preserving their virtue. Popular romance, Seifert argues, relies on the trope of “abstinence porn,” in which teens and, by extension, their virginities become objectified and readers are invited to participate in this eroticization of virginity (3). Chapter 1, “From Forever to Twilight,” briefly discusses the concept of the purity myth and its role in America’s cultural understanding of young girls. This notion of purity is reflected in adolescent literature, where “abstinence porn tells us that the most titillating aspect of a sexual relationship is obsessing about doing it [because] once you do it, it’s all over” (5). Invariably, Seifert claims, the characters are predominantly white teens in heteronormative relationships, and issues of race, gender, and sexuality are rarely (if at all) questioned (17–18). In chapter 2, Seifert deals with virginity and sex in paranormal novels after Twilight, with special emphasis on the couples in the Hush Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick, the Mara Dyer series by [End Page 314] Michelle Hodkin, and the Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Maggie Stiefvater. Invariably, the heroines are “ordinary girls who are secretly extraordinary,” and only the “romantic hero” is able to see their extraordinariness from the very beginning (24). Chapter 3 focuses on the formulaic romances in dystopian fiction, where virginity is not a choice for female characters. In the three series Seifert examines—the Selection series by Kiera Cass, the Matched series by Ally Condie, and the Delirium series by Lauren Oliver—virginity is a requirement and is central to the plot: “marriage is the ultimate goal because it means the couple can finally have sex” (67). Similar issues are raised in chapter 4, which deals with contemporary teen romance, in which the protagonist’s virginity is once again equated with morality. All of the novels that Seifert examines are predictable to the last; she even provides her readers with charts that summarize the romantic relationship between characters based on their status as virgins, how dangerous they are to each other, the problem in their relationship, the sexual activities in which they partake, and how the story ends. While the romantic partners may or may not have sex in the text, the innocent female protagonists almost always marry their (dangerous and sometimes abusive) partners. According to Seifert, there are four recurring tropes associated with virginity. Most important, the female protagonist’s naïveté and lack of sexual awareness not only make her attractive, but are also instrumental in making a “bad boy” good. Second, women cannot be trusted with their own virginity and must rely on a paternalistic “virginity guardian” to step in and reinforce the rules. The idea of “true love as destiny” is critical to these romances, in which “teen relationships can and should last forever, even if the partners seem to be poor matches” (38). Finally, and most disturbingly, possessive behavior and potentially dangerous people are portrayed as sexy and tempting, and violence is central to most of the novels that Seifert examines. Particularly insightful is her observation that virgins retain their virginal status even after they have had sex, as the “protagonist will remain pure for [her] one special and fated partner” (38). Arguably, the seemingly repetitive text serves to highlight the fact that the same ideology (sex is bad, abstinence is good) recurs in each of these novels, albeit with slightly varied plot lines. In a nutshell, virginity is less about sexual intercourse than it is about good behavior and moral quality; female nonvirgins become the young adult romance novel’s designated antagonists and are depicted as lacking in moral values because they acknowledge their sexuality. Chapters 5 and 6 help place Seifert’s...

Galicia, or the Spurious Child: Illegitimate Origins in the Modern Novel

The present article uses Suso de Toro’s Sete palabras as a starting point for analyzing the protagonism of illegitimate children in the Galician novel since the Rexurdimen- to . Considered in a historical context and as a literary trope, the illegitimate child can be read as an expression of anxiety around a national identity rested upon a notion of purity, be it linguistic, ethnic or territorial. These unclear origins, rather than preclude the possibility of identity formation and history —individual or collective— can serve as a source for alternative histories and identities.

Nationalism, the Nation and Migration: Searching for Purity and Diversity

This paper adds to debates on the double-edged and contested nature of nationalism and its relationships with migration and diaspora. It does this by focusing on the notion of purity and highlights the ways in which national identities can be based on homogenising constructions of the nation. In an age where the nation-state system and migration are both important and in which there are recurring politicised uses of nationalism in potentially extreme ways, the paper discusses how nationalism can be problematic. It calls for contextualised and grounded research on the everyday meanings of nationalism in order to emphasise the messy and often ambivalent nature of national identities. In this way, it argues that there is potential for ‘rescuing nationalism’ as a more inclusive, diverse notion.

Matting the Monochrome: Malevich, Klein, and Now

Recent abstract art actively works against the paradigms of purity and autonomy.1 A self-conscious revision of its heritage is a striking feature of its renewed vitality. Commentators have recognized the import of impurities within the founding practices of the field. Briony Fer has revealed the aberrations integral to Piet Mondrian's paintings, for example, as Allan Kaprow did in the 1960s when he wrote that “the impure aspect of pure painting like Mondrian's is not some hidden compositional flaw but rather the psychological setting which must be impure for the notion of purity to make any sense at all.”2 Here I will develop and examine a paradigm of mid-twentieth-century abstraction's resistance to the norms of purity and autonomy in Yves Klein's agonistic reception of the monochrome, that compressed but not so rarefied Russian doll that sits inside abstract painting just as abstraction inhabits the core of modernism.3 Klein systematically took the avant-garde monochrome beyond the frame of painting. Seeing his work as a precedent in this regard underscores Klein's historical importance and connects recent work not usually regarded as monochromatic or abstract to a genealogy in which he is pivotal. Klein scholars and supporters—especially Thomas McEvilley, Pierre Restany, and Sidra Stich—document his legacy for recent and contemporary art, including abstraction. Others are at best ambivalent about the artist and his patrimony. Benjamin Buchloh claims that Klein, in company with Joseph Beuys, has been “overestimated in U.S. reception.”4 Thierry de Duve's writing in this context seems pulled in two irreconcilable directions. On the one hand, he asserts that Klein's “only tangible contribution to the history of painting is the chemical formula that allowed him to fix powdered pigment without diminishing its glow,” yet in an instructive endnote about his reception in the United States, de Duve struggles with the tension between Klein's alleged “failure” and the fact that he “is not a negligible artist.”5 More serious questions about the neo-avant-garde notwithstanding, a (usually) unspoken discomfort with Klein the provocateur and supposedly right-wing sympathizer colors the interpretation of his work.6

Extending the Boundaries of the Dialogical Self: Speaking from within the Feminist Perspective

The purpose of this paper is to explore the ways in which feminist theory can contribute to the construction of an alternative and more inclusive account of the process of identity development than the one proposed by dialogical accounts. Focusing on Anzaldua’s (1987) concept of mestiza and on Lugones’ (1994) concept of curdling, the paper proposes an approach to identity formation that is sensitive to the dialogicality of people’s experiences. This move away from the notion of purity and truth-seeking psychological accounts should acknowledge the fundamental hybridity of lived experiences.

Beyond the Divide: History and National Boundaries in the Work of Amitav Ghosh

The force of nationalism has become one of the most potent forces of our present time; witness the increasing number of emergent states and of separatist movements all over the world. Nationalism is born of the notion of a common heritage of a people that stretches over a long past and shared ethnic and/or religious roots. This is particularly so in the post-colonial era where the issue of identity is an urgent quest for Third World countries attempting to assert their individuality as nations and shed the yoke of having been culturally oppressed for a significant period of their history. One does not have to delve very far into history, though, to find that most, if not all, nation-states today are further from the notion of purity, unity, and shared heritage than their official ideologies would like to think. Peoples have moved in time and space and have become culturally and religiously commingled in ways that modern demarcations of nationality fail to consider. Consequently they have become artificial, not only in the sense of being man-made but also in being inadequate: if they unite one group along a certain criterion, they inevitably divide along another. As Amitav Ghosh puts it in an interview, Today nationalism, once conceived of as a form of freedom, is really destroying our world. It's destroying the forms of ordinary life that many people know. The nation-state prevents the development of free exchange between peoples. 1 In this paper, I shall analyze the ways in which the works of Amitav Ghosh explore the issues of national borders, the historical process by which they have come about, and the resulting ironies that affect people's lives at times in incomprehensible ways in the post-colonial era rich with contradictions. Beginning with The Shadow Lines, the issue of borders and partitioning is explored in the specific case of India, resulting in a myriad of insider-outsider configurations and in the problematic of how to narrate this partitioned history in writing. This is then fleshed out in In