Imagining the Fetus the Unborn in Myth, Religion, and CultureOxford University Press, 12/12/2008 - 320 من الصفحات In contemporary Western culture, the word "fetus" introduces either a political subject or a literal, medicalized entity. Neither of these frameworks does justice to the vast array of religious literature and oral traditions from cultures around the world in which the fetus emerges as a powerful symbol or metaphor. This volume presents essays that explore the depiction of the fetus in the world's major religious traditions, finding some striking commonalities as well as intriguing differences. Among the themes that emerge is the tendency to conceive of the fetus as somehow independent of the mother's body -- as in the case of the Buddha, who is described as inhabiting a palace while gestating in the womb. On the other hand, the fetus can also symbolically represent profound human needs and emotions, such as the universal experience of vulnerability. The authors note how the advent of the fetal sonogram has transformed how people everywhere imagine the unborn today, giving rise to a narrow range of decidedly literal questions about personhood, gender, and disability. |
المحتوى
3 | |
A Drama Involving Embryos | 11 |
A Survey | 33 |
The Buddhas Final Fetal Experience | 55 |
Conception and Gestation in Buddhist Scripture and Classical Indian Medical Literature | 73 |
Buddhist Texts and the Ritual Construction of a Fetus | 91 |
Tibetan Buddhist Narratives of the Forces of Creation | 107 |
Female Feticide in the Punjab and Fetus Imagery in Sikhism | 121 |
Imagining the Unborn in Early Christian Literature | 157 |
Famous Fetuses in Rabbinic Narratives | 185 |
Fetal Narratives in Islamic Literature | 203 |
The Colossal Fetuses of La Venta and Mesoamericas Earliest Creation Story | 223 |
Fetal References in Japanese Mythology and Cultural Memory | 259 |
Fetal Ultrasound Images and Imaginings of Kin | 275 |
291 | |
Embryology in Babylonia and the Bible | 137 |
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عبارات ومصطلحات مألوفة
Abhidhamma abortion accounts Ancient baby Babylonian become birth blood Bodhisattva body born Buddha Buddhaghosa Buddhist Carakasam․hitā century chapter child conception cosmic creation cultural deity Delhi described divine dreams early Christian earth edited elements embryo embryology Esau female Feminist fetal ultrasound imaging fetus fetuses Garbhāvakrāntisūtra Genesis Rabbah gestation God’s goddess Gospel Guru Granth human Ibid imagination Indian interpretation Israel Israelite Jacob and Esau Jaina Japanese Jesus Jewish John Kamsa karma king Kojiki La Venta light literature Lord Luke Mahābhārata Mahāvīra male Mary Mary’s mātikā Maya Mesoamerican Midrash months mother mother’s womb Motilal Banarsidass Muhammad myth Nanjing Nanjing Massacre narrative Olmec Pali Popol Vuh pregnancy Prophet Prot Qur’an rabbinic traditions rebirth Religion religious ritual role Sanskrit scholars scripture sculptures seed semen Sikh story Studies sūtra Śvetāmbara symbol Tibetan tion Tīrthan˙kara Torah translation ultrasound ultrasound scan unborn University Press Venta verses Visnu winds woman women word