[INDOLOGY] Book Announcement: The Power of Hate Speech in Ancient India

[Madhav Deshpande]

Congratulations, Jarrod!

Madhav

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]


On Thu, Sep 3, 2026 at 5:06 AM Whitaker, Jarrod via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear Colleagues
>
> It's a pleasure to share with you all the news of the publication of my
> new monograph, *The Power of Hate Speech in Ancient India: Beasts,
> Demons, and Scorched-Earth Poetry *(Bloomsbury Academic, 2026).
>
> The Kindle version was available in August and the Hardcover is published
> today, September 3rd, from Amazon
> <https://www.amazon.com/Power-Hate-Speech-Ancient-India/dp/B0G2BSF6S8?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=AUTHOR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sMzkS8QuM-zqwrH7natJeo0n-MF5KxV2tg_ZVdaHqPfGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.r-bg2ctHYVzClYXKmGUrcrbfTp6XSSzegXnLGztAPaM>or
> Bloomsbury
> <https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/power-of-hate-speech-in-ancient-india-9798216389606/>
> .
>
> https://tinyurl.com/3zt58kvs
>
> https://tinyurl.com/4dc9wb5d
>
> The book argues that early Vedic poet-priests deployed various forms of
> hate speech to negotiate interpersonal conflict and social status. It
> illuminates a lived reality in which ancient Indian ritualists had to
> contend with serious threats to the staging of their ritual performances
> from rival ritualists, members of the wider community, cultural outsiders,
> and even wild animals. Consequently, this book offers an in-depth study of
> how ancient Indian poet-priests construct and reproduce their identities
> and sociopolitical expectations in ritual performances through the
> ubiquitous use of ritualized hate speech. It provides hitherto unnoticed
> insights into the complex discursive practices, ethical values, and
> interpersonal relationships that ritual practitioners had to negotiate some
> three thousand years ago in north India.
>
> Table of Contents
> Introduction
> 1: Ritual Order Vs Monstrous Chaos
> 2: Hate Speech
> 3: Bráhman-Haters and Brahmáns As Haters
> 4: “Discord-Sowers,” Pests, and the Animal-Other
> Conclusion
> Appendix 1: Translation Of RV.7.104.1-25
> Appendix 2: Translation Of RV.10.87.1-25
> Appendix 3: Rgvedic Appearances of “Hate” as a Subjective Quality
> Bibliography
>
>
> Cheers
>
> Jarrod
>
> --
>
> Jarrod L. Whitaker, Ph.D.
> Professor for the Study of Religions
> Department Chair
>
> Department for the Study of Religions
> Wake Forest University1834 Wake Forest Rd
> Winston-Salem, NC, 27106 <https://www.google.com/maps/search/1834+Wake+Forest+Rd%0D%0AWinston-Salem,+NC,+27106?entry=gmail&source=g>
> 336.758.4162 <(336)%20758-4162>whitakjl at wfu.edu
>
> ॐ मणिपद्मे हूँ
>
>
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