Gender studies in the modern world is a relatively new but rapidly developing field of the humanities. A particularly difficult "pilot" project was to address the tender problems of traditional societies of the East, with the necessary excursion into ancient history and a comparative analysis of classical Eastern historical sources and modern material, data from "field" practice. In this regard, indological gender studies are both a fertile and difficult area for applying the efforts of a historian.
Against the background of the growing activity of women of the Republic of India in all spheres of life, including science, business and cosmonautics, there is no doubt that the topic of the monograph by E. S. Yurlova "Women of India: traditions and modernity" (Moscow, IV RAS, 2014, 520 p) is relevant.
The author devoted a significant part of her work to the situation of Indian women, reflecting her findings and conclusions for half a century in numerous publications and the first monograph on this issue "The Social status of women and the women's Movement in India", which was published in Moscow in 1982. An organic part and step to this generalizing work was the book by E. S. Yurlova "India: from untouchables to Dalits" (Moscow, IV RAS, 2003).
The novelty of the research consists in a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the gender asymmetry in India from ancient times to the present day, as well as the efforts of the modern state and humanistic-minded segments of society to overcome it in order to create a truly tolerant environment and develop democracy. The author uses historical-geographical and problem-chronological approaches and significantly enriches Indology, giving new knowledge about demographic, geo-economic and geopolitical trends, secular legislation and private law in India. With an abundance of regional sources drawn by the author, the topic is presented and developed on the basis of common Indian material, all the written-out plots are inscribed in the historical and cultural context of the country's development as a whole. Among the undoubted innovative advantages of E. S. Yurlova's research is a huge amount of material drawn from her personal meetings with Indian participants of contemporary events.
The book is rationally constructed: it consists of a preface, two parts divided into 10 chapters and paragraphs, a conclusion, a personal index, and a bibliography.
In the first part, based on a wide range of foreign and domestic sources, most of which are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time and cover even the 2010s, the problem of the role and place of women in the everyday history of India from antiquity to the present day is posed and deeply studied.
The second part organically complements the first, presenting a brilliant portrait series of prominent Indian women-politicians, cultural figures and artists (Pandita Ramabai, Ramabai Ranade, Aruna Asaf Ali, Sarojini Naidu, Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Pratibha Patil, Devika Rani, Mother Teresa, Captain Lakshmi).
In the course of historical analysis, the author shows the change in ideas about the role and place of women in the family and society, formed during the historical collision and interpenetration of two cultures-local, pre-Aryan and patriarchal Aryan culture. When comparing the role of women in Buddhism, Brahmanism, and Hinduism, E. S. Yurlova shows how a "sophisticated mechanism of control and subordination of women to men" was gradually created (p. 32). Analyzing the order of inheritance, patrilineal and matrilineal accounts of kinship, types of family organization and the nature of the institution of marriage, the author reveals the historical and social background of female inequality. E. S. Yurlova's statement is true that during the Mughal Empire, the situation of women deteriorated further, as the rather closed Hindu society "began to restrict the freedom of women and lower castes even more" (p. 46).
Nevertheless, the history of the penetration of Islam into India, and especially the strengthening of its role in the Mughal era, through the prism of the position of women is presented by the author in fragments (p. 46), although this historical period and all subsequent development of India strongly require attention to the Islamic theme, comparing the situation of Hindus and Muslims, along with other faiths
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countries. I would like to see a more detailed account and analysis of the failure of such important measures of the Mughal regime as attempts to prevent the traditional Hindu self-immolation of widows on the funeral pyre of their husband (sati), the permission of divorce and remarriage of Hindu widows, the absence of dowries and the introduction of other Muslim customs and norms.
Of considerable interest in Yurlova's monograph is the section on social reforms in colonial India, in which the author reasonably notes a certain positive impact on Indian thought, morality and culture of the very opportunity to get a Western education, get acquainted with European norms, customs and philosophy (p.48).
Why did the British colonialists and Indian reformers of Modern times, especially in the first half of the twentieth century, manage to do much of what the Mughals were powerless to do?
The reader is presented with a dramatic picture of the struggle against sati and polygamy, for expanding the boundaries of social reforms, and a gallery of portraits of major reformers (Jotiba Phule, Lala Lajpat Rai, Vivekananda, Ranade, Motilal Nehru, etc.) is created, with which the conservatism of Bal Gangadhar Tilak contrasts (p. 63). Special attention is paid to the activities of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who contributed to a radical change in the socio-political climate in favor of women. In many ways, it was Gandhi who was able to psychologically prepare the advanced, nationally oriented Indian public, which pushed the Indian National Congress party to adopt progressive legislation in favor of women (pp. 77-81).
E. S. Yurlova should be credited with drawing on a wide range of official documents to illustrate the position of an Indian woman in independent India up to the present time, introducing women to wage labor, including in power structures. The paper describes the types of tender asymmetry. The situation in Kerala, where for a long time the generally accepted indicators of the status of women (literacy, life expectancy, sex ratio, especially of reproductive age, infant and maternal mortality) remained among the best in the country, is comprehensively presented, and the reasons for the deterioration of the situation associated with the establishment of patriarchal customs are revealed (pp. 183-185).
The author comprehensively examines the problem of family and marriage relations. Analyzing the latest trends in the lives of Indian women, E. S. Yurlova correctly and nontrivially reveals the harmful impact of modern technologies that partly serve tradition, namely, the use of the latest diagnostic methods for the mass destruction of female embryos, and reasonably concludes that "gender inequality boomerangs throughout society" (p. 95). The low status of the Indian woman remains an indisputable fact: according to the latest census of 2011, there is an obvious and threatening decrease in the number of girls under 6 years of age. In absolute terms, there were 38 million more men than women in India in 2011 (624 million and 586 million, respectively) (p.185). A convincing analysis of the causes of this striking disparity, which the author suggests with reference to the Vedic tradition, would benefit even more from identifying the "index" of abortions in various confessional environments in modern India.
E. S. Yurlova comprehensively describes the development of the women's movement in the country, "one of the most active in the world" (p. 295), and shows a wide range of problems that it covers-from the realization of women's constitutional rights and the protection of vulnerable groups to a kind of ecofeminism, which aims to protect the environment and women who depend on it. The author raises the issue of the struggle of the National Federation of Dalit Women against caste discrimination and violence, for the introduction of literacy, education, and the elimination of untouchability (p.296). At the same time, a convincing conclusion is made that the broadest range of women's public organizations and their efforts has a downside - the extreme fragmentation of the women's movement, the lack of a unified program of practical actions - and that there is an urgent need for coordination of actions (pp. 300-301).
The gallery of historical portraits of prominent Indian women in the second part of the book undoubtedly serves as a decoration of the monograph. The charismatic personalities depicted in it are the finishing touch to the filigree image of an Indian woman created by the author.
The reference system is informative in content and correct. Technical recommendations would include the author's wish to divide sources (unpublished, published; by type, genre) and historiography in the bibliography, to enter an index of terms, and also to place photos or copies of other images of remarkable heroines of the second part of his research in the book.
The work is written vividly, vividly, in a good Russian literary language, and, in addition, E. S. Yurlova, with her personal impressions of communicating with Indians, deep emotional insight into the topic, makes the monograph a unique study, a piercing moral message to the reader. The book is an original, well-founded scientific work, executed at a high professional level. It makes a great contribution to the development of Indology and Oriental studies, can be used in lectures and special courses of specialized higher educational institutions, when writing qualification papers of all levels.
Undoubtedly, the book will be of interest not only to researchers, but will also be of interest to the reading audience, Indian and Russian organizations dealing with gender issues and women's rights.
L. A. CHERESHNEVA, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of Lipetsk State Pedagogical University
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