Flat nose in the views of the South Asian peoples. Perception, customs, vocabulary, folklore
https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-4158-2022-1-110-123
Abstract
The article deals with such a beauty “anti-standard” among a number of peoples of South Asia as a flat nose. Attention is paid to the contemporary functioning of the phenomenon in culture, as well as to its possible origin. The vocabulary used to describe such a physical trait, as well as the mention of a flat nose in folklore and the connotations associated with it, are analyzed. It is suggested that a flat nose as an “anti-standard” of beauty has been entrenched in the culture of South Asia since a very long time, and two main factors influenced its formation. These are physical characteristics of the non-Aryan peoples defeated in ancient times, some of whom later became low castes, and the practice of cutting off the nose as punishment for crimes related to the honour of the family and society.
About the Author
E. A. Renkovskaya
Institute of Linguistics RAS; Institute of Oriental Sciences RAS
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Evgeniya A. Renkovskaya, Cand. of Sci (Philology)
References
1. Filliozat, J. (1973), “La place des etudes tamoules dans l’indologie”, Indologica Taurinensia, no. 1, pp. 47–60.
2. Frembgen, J.W. (2006), “Honour, shame and bodily mutilation. Cutting off the nose among tribal societies in Pakistan”, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, no. 16, pp. 243–260.
3. Homan, S. (2016), You can’t be a feminist and be a daughner-in-law: negotiations of honour and womanhood in urban Nepal. D. Sc. Thesis, Philosophy. University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.
4. Keay, J. (1979), The Gilgit game. The explorers of the Western Himalayas 1865–1895, London, UK.
5. Keith, A.B. (1925), The religion and philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads, Harvard University Press.
6. Kuriakose, F., Mallick, N. and Kylasam Iyer, D. (2017), “Acid Violence in South Asia: A Structural Analysis toward Transformative Justice”, Antyajaa: Indian Journal of Women and Social Change, no. 2, pp. 65–80.
7. Shafer, R. (1954), “Ethnography of Ancient India”, Otto Harrasowitz, Wiesbaden, Germany.
8. Skinner P. (2014), The gendered nose and its lack: “medieval” nose-cutting and its modern manifestations, Journal of Women’s History, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 45–67.
9. Sperati, G. (2009), “Amputation of the nose throughout history”, Acta Otorhinolaryngologica Italica, no. 29, pp. 44–50.
Review
For citations:
Renkovskaya E.A. Flat nose in the views of the South Asian peoples. Perception, customs, vocabulary, folklore. Studia Religiosa Rossica: Russian Journal of Religion. 2022;(1):110-123. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-4158-2022-1-110-123
Views:
3617
Email this article 