Imagining the Fetus the Unborn in Myth, Religion, and Culture

by Sasson, Vanessa R; Law, Jane Marie

• ISBN13: 9780195380057
• ISBN10: 0195380053
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-12-12
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In the current North American climate, the word "fetus" usually either evokes turbulent political issues or refers to a medicalized entity. However, these associations belie the extraordinary range of religious literature and oral traditions throughout the world in which the fetus features centrally as a powerful symbol or metaphor.

Author Biography

Vanessa R. Sasson is Professor of Religious Studies at Marianopolis College, Montreal. Jane Marie Law is Associate Professor of Japanese Religions at Cornell University.

Table of Contents

Contributors, vii
Introduction: Restoring Nuance to Imagining the Fetus	p. 3
The Story of Samkarsana's and Krsna's Births: A Drama Involving Embryos	p. 11
The Great Men of Jainism In Utero: A Survey	p. 33
A Womb with a View: The Buddha's Final Fetal Experience	p. 55
Life in the Womb: Conception and Gestation in Buddhist Scripture and Classical Indian Medical Literature	p. 73
Philosophical Embryology: Buddhist Texts and the Ritual Construction of a Fetus	p. 91
Tibetan Buddhist Narratives of the Forces of Creation	p. 107
Female Feticide in the Punjab and Fetus Imagery in Sikhism	p. 121
Embryology in Babylonia and the Bible	p. 137
The Leaping Child: Imagining the Unborn in Early Christian Literature	p. 157
"Famous" Fetuses in Rabbinic Narratives	p. 185
A Prophet Emerging: Fetal Narratives in Islamic Literature	p. 203
The Colossal Fetuses of La Venta and Mesoamerica's Earliest Creation Story	p. 223
Out of Place: Fetal References in Japanese Mythology and Cultural Memory	p. 259
Seeing Like a Family: Fetal Ultrasound Images and Imaginings of Kin	p. 275
Index	p. 291
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