New Books Network Amy L. Allocco and Xenia Zeiler eds., "Sweetening and Intensification: Currents Shaping Hindu Practices" (SUNY Press, 2025)
Nov 13, 2025
Amy L. Allocco, a scholar of Hindu rituals and iconography, teams up with Xenia Zeiler, an academic from the University of Helsinki, to delve into the currents shaping contemporary Hindu practices. They explore the concepts of 'sweetening,' which softens religious narratives, and 'intensification,' emphasizing visceral rituals. The discussion reveals how these themes interlace through diverse case studies, reflecting on their significance in diaspora contexts. Unexpected findings highlight the historical depth and creative approaches of contributors across the volume.
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Helsinki Meeting Sparked The Project
- Amy describes meeting Xenia in Helsinki in 2019 which sparked the project and led to an AAR grant.
- Pandemic delays shifted plans but enabled a global online panel in 2021 that broadened the project.
Defining Sweetening And Intensification
- Sweetening means softening deities, narratives, and rituals in response to modern pressures.
- Intensification preserves or escalates visceral, stigmatized practices often as a reaction to change.
Pairing Two Complementary Currents
- The editors intentionally pair sweetening and intensification to show they can converge or diverge across contexts.
- They requested contributors address both tendencies to reveal interaction across media, diaspora, and politics.
