Awkward one-armed babas: Ūrdhvabāhu Hindu Ascetics in Western Imagination
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Humanities textual and historical analysis (level assigned by design analogy)
OpenAlex W7167215112 · doi:10.5281/zenodo.21162769
What was done
The author conducted a close reading of Western fictional and non-fictional writings from the pre-colonial period to the present to examine historical and cultural representations of ūrdhvabāhu Hindu ascetics who hold one or both arms permanently aloft.
What was found
The abstract reports no quantitative data. It identifies a recurring preoccupation in Western literature that mocks the practice, stereotypes the ascetics as evil, and selects this austerity over others to symbolize an alleged Indian need for Western enlightenment.
Why it matters
This study outlines how specific Hindu ascetic bodily austerities were selectively represented in Western discourse to reinforce colonialist tropes of irrationality.
Limits
The abstract does not specify the sample size, selection criteria, or comprehensive list of texts analyzed. Findings represent qualitative interpretive analysis rather than empirical or clinical data.
Cited by
- context A historical figure held his right arm raised continuously in protest for decades, causing the arm to become physically fused and fixed in a vertical position.