SV: SV: Digital Magic in Prehistory of India

[Lars Martin Fosse]

Vanbakkam Vijayaraghavan [SMTP:vijay at VOSSNET.CO.UK] skrev 27. november 2000
12:30:
> It is not just value judgements, but even the identification aryan vs
> dravidian is unwarranted. The vedas themselves do not speak of dravidian,
> even the word itself is not mentioned, but vedic people were at odds only
> with dasyus - sometimes . The vedic people were unaware of such a group
as
> dravidians. If you have a better information, let me know.

The identification of Aryans versus Dravidians is primarily based on
linguistic criteria, and is scientifically warranted. The fact that the
Vedas don't mention the Dravidians is immaterial. Who the dasyus were, is a
different question. They may have been any number of peoples present in the
North of India at this period, including other Aryans. Not to mention the
fact that some of them were demons.

Vanbakkam Vijayaraghavan [SMTP:vijay at VOSSNET.CO.UK] skrev 27. november 2000
13:41:
> For someone [Ganesan] who seems to be so concerned with negative
portrayal  of black
> colour in the vedas and the "loathing of black skin  and black color " ,
it
> is ironic he should rely exlusively on the writings and interpretations
of
> whites and disregard the opinions and interpretatins of blacks. If
someone
> puts on a pedastal the interpretations given by ethinc whites as paradigm
> of truth, integrity, profundity in contrast to the interpretations of
> Indians, why this excessive concern about "racism" in Vedas?

In scholarly exchanges, the race of the scholar is not supposed to matter.
What matters, however, is scholarly method and approach. I suggest that we
leave "race" out of it. Cultural prejudices, however, do matter, and there
is ample evidence of such both among white and black scholars (as well as
yellow ones, too, I would assume). Europeans have been accused of being
"Eurocentric", and Edward Said has criticized "Orientalism". Such critical
approaches are academically legitimate, irrespective of whether the crit
ique is valid or not.

Lars Martin Fosse


Dr. art. Lars Martin Fosse
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