# Are There Any Literary Journals About Sikhi?



## Hardas Singh (Nov 9, 2008)

I was wondering if anyone knows if there have ever been any literary journals who have written an article on the teachings of our Gurus. Of course I am not lowering Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji to the level of mere literature, but even from a literary perspective the Shabads are quite beautiful. The reason I am asking this question is because in my college english class I must write an essay about a short story, poem, play, etc that would have likely generated some literary scholarship. I would love to write an essay about one of the shabads, or bani.


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## BhagatSingh (Nov 9, 2008)

Hey good idea! I would love to help you but I don't know of any articles. Let's see what the others come up with.


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## spnadmin (Nov 9, 2008)

Satyadi ji

You can start right here on the forum with this reference list. future kaur ji, dalsingh ji and i developed this thread back in the summer. We started collecting links to articles, books and reviews.

See this link  --  http://www.sikhism.us/sikhism-book-reviews/21508-scholarly-books-list-4.html

Another suggestion is to look at the online journal Sikh Spectrum which has a number of articles on Guru Granth Sahib. the link is here http://www.sikhspectrum.com/

Some journals have online access by paid subscription only or you have to access them at a university library or good public library. They include:

Journal of Sikh Studies
Journal of Religious Understanding
Journal of Religious Studies
Journal of Medieval Indian Literature
Journal of Asian Studies
Journal of the American Oriental Society


Hope this helps.


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## spnadmin (Nov 9, 2008)

Satyadhi ji


Here is one more idea. If you are near a college or university library, then you may be able to use the resource called J-STOR. J-STOR is an immense database of scholarly articles of all kinds.

To research your topic first get to the home page for J-STOR at the link (http://www.jstor.org)

Then use their search feature to look up a shabad or raag from Sri Guru Granth Sahib. As an experiment I did this and found something that is very interesting.

Step 1 - I went to (http://www.jstor.org)
Step 2 - I searched on Sri Raag
And then this article came up: NON-CANONICAL COMPOSITIONS ATTRIBUTED TO THE SEVENTH AND NINTH SIKH GURUS
at this link (http://www.jstor.org/pss/606560)

To see the article's first page type the url above into your browser and then hit return. You won't be able to navigate from this page because everything in J-STOR requires a password, but you will be able to see the first page of the article by using the link I typed above.


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## spnadmin (Nov 9, 2008)

Satyadhi,

After this reply, if you can't find what you are looking for then change your research topic. Forum members, apologies for going on so at length.

But Satyadhi ji, you can also use the Book Store here at SPN with excellent results. The book store is associated with Amazon.com and many books are available at discounts that will save you the cost of petrol going to the library. And, yes, some are very inexpensive.

Go to the BOOK STORE link on the SPN home page. Then search on the right under search category "Books" and then the topic. As an experiment I searched for Guru Arjan Dev.

This came up.

Sikhism Store 
   Search Results

*Showing 1 - 10 of 16 results for "Guru Arjan Dev" in Books.* 

Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev and Essentials of Sikhism by Teja Singh 
     Buy used from:  $33.91
* Guru Arjan Dev (Makers of Indian literature) by Mahindara Singha Joshi 
     Buy used from:  $11.05 *Select Sikh Scriptures Vol. II: Guru Arjan Dev 
     Buy new:        $14.75       / Used from:        $13.28
Usually ships in 24 hours Sri Guru Granth Sahib ; A Gift of Guru Arjan Dev Ji by Haribala Rani Kaur Vaid 
     Buy used from:  $22.53 *Sri Guru Arjan Dev's Sukh Mani by Teja Singh *
Guru Arjan Dev: The great apostle of love and sacrifice by Kartar Singh 
Guru Arjan Dev's Baramahan: A commentary (Gurbani parchar series ; no. 15) by M. L Peace 
*Guru Arjan Dev: The poet prophet by H. L Agnihotri *
Episodic sketches from the life of Guru Arjan Dev, by M. L Peace 
*Sri Guru Arjan Dev's Sukh Mani (Gurbani parchar series ; no. 4) by Arjun

*You can see the links in bold. Those have to do with literature and Guru Arjan Dev. Actually they all look good.


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## Hardas Singh (Nov 9, 2008)

Ok, thanks, this all seems very helpful, but she did specifaclly say it had to be a literary journal, so I hope one of your suggestions will fulfill my teachers criteria.
Thanks again!!!:happy:


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## spnadmin (Nov 9, 2008)

Satyadhi ji

I don't know if you are in high school or college, but these kinds of journals can usually be accessed electronically in college libraries. If you are not in college usually you can get a letter from your school giving you permission to use a college library.

Also J-STOR collects articles from all the journals and reproduces them in the database. So you can use J-STOR to find a journal article. That is how it works and would be consistent with what your teacher wants.


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## Hardas Singh (Nov 15, 2008)

Ok, thank you. I am in college, and fortunately I got permission to use a religious journal as well as literary, which should make things a little easier. Basically I can write about any part of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji, Sri Dasam Granth Sahib ji, etc, as long as I can find some journals discussing the particular Shabad, or composition. The hard part is deciding what to write about when everything our Gurus said is in my opinion good to write about.
The essay must be 1000 words, and preferably rich in symbolism, and historical/ cultural referances that many people would probably not fully understand unless they were familiar with Indian culture and history and religion.


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## spnadmin (Nov 15, 2008)

Satyadi ji

OK, so why don't you go to J-STOR and use the search for Gurbani or search shabad. Did you see if you library has any of the journals that I listed above? Let me try it out in J-STOR and send some suggestions.


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## spnadmin (Nov 15, 2008)

Satyadi ji

Here are two suggestions from J-STOR - the full articles will be available to you at your college library and the reference librarian should be able to show you how to download them. 

Written by a Sikh - Warris Shah: Punjabi Poet of Love and Liberation, Kishan Singh, Social Scientist, Vol. 1, No. 12  (Jul., 1973), pp. 31-46                  Link: (http://www.jstor.org/pss/3516344), Published by The University of Chicago Press

I like the one about Warris Shah because it compares the Poet Fareed with the poet Warris Shah in the context of SGGS. If you run this off and show it to your professor he/she may approve even though it is a social science journal. Let me keep looking. 

The Word as Guru: Sikh Scripture and the Translation Controversy, Verne A. Dusenbery,History of Religions, Vol. 31, No. 4, Sikh Studies  (May, 1992), pp. 385-402                   (article consists of 18 pages), Published by: The University of Chicago Press Link: (http://www.jstor.org/pss/3516344)


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## spnadmin (Nov 15, 2008)

Also, I would definitly use this article in your paper for background information and context 

Aesthetics of Guru Granth Sahib              by Dr. Guninder Kaur  SikhSpectrum.com Monthly                                                          Issue No.5, October 2002 

SikhSpectrum.com Monthly AESTHETICS OF THE GURU GRANTH SAHIB


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## spnadmin (Nov 15, 2008)

This one looks very interesting. Again the librarian should be able to help you get this one online.

This is the link (http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a723926543~db=al)l
* Questioning Hermeneutics with Freud: How to interpret dreams and mute-speech in Sikh scripture *
*Author:* Balbinder S. Bhogal 
*Published in:*




Sikh Formations, Volume  1, Issue  1  June 2005 , pages 93 - 125 
*Article Requests:* Order Reprints : Request Permissions 


Online Sample 
	

 * Abstract *

  This paper begins to question the interpretive endeavor when it is applied to the Adi Granth. The text itself expresses a view that the 'world is a dream' and that there is real difficulty in communicating the truth about reality, since it is like a mute person who enjoys, but is unable to express, the taste of his sweet; that is the sweetness of the mystic experience. I raise the question: what is hermeneutics to this situation? How is one to interpret a dream and a text that is the 'speech' of a mute person? Traditional hermeneutic theories (conservative, moderate and critical) do not seem to cater for this problematic since they do not concern themselves with the unconscious, the sub-text, the dreams underlying waking thought. I thus turn to Freud to gain clues about the interpretation of dreams, and thus attempt a preliminary radicalization of hermeneutic theory. It is suggested that perhaps a reversal is required where dreams precede worldly reality, and interpretation is a sign of delusion, obviously locating and implicating this very text within the very problematic it attempts to illuminate. Beyond this ironic tautology I ask: could there be a self that does not dream and does not interpret?


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## spnadmin (Nov 15, 2008)

Satyadhi ji

More from the journal Sikh Formations -- and you may be able to get these online.

*THE KHANDA AND THE DHULFIQAR: Sikh-Shi'a parallelisms and crossings in history and text, concept of the Divine Guide and sacred chivalry* 
_Francisco Jos
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 Luis _



_Sikh Formations: Religion, Culture, Theory_, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 153 – 180 
  DOI: 10.1080/17448720601061374 

*Re-Membering the body of the transcendent one* 
_Nikky Singh _



_Sikh Formations: Religion, Culture, Theory_, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2005, Pages 201 – 216 
  DOI: 10.1080/17448720500442576 

*Locating the sikh pagh* 
_Virinder S. Kalra _



_Sikh Formations: Religion, Culture, Theory_, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2005, Pages 75 – 92 
  DOI: 10.1080/17448720500132557


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## pk70 (Nov 15, 2008)

*It is amazing to know how much references about these sources you have handy aad Ji !:happy:*


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## spnadmin (Nov 15, 2008)

pk70 said:


> *It is amazing to know how much references about these sources you have handy aad Ji !:happy:*



Thanx pk70 veer ji, but actually not that amazing because Google and these internet sites are my "right-hand" on the job. So when I find a good site, I make a note of it. It came in handy here for a student writing a research paper. Hope Satyadhi can find something useful.


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## spnadmin (Nov 15, 2008)

pk70 said:


> *It is amazing to know how much references about these sources you have handy aad Ji !:happy:*



Thanx pk70 veer ji, but actually not that amazing because Google and these internet sites are my "right-hand" on the job. So when I find a good site, I make a note of it. The habit carried over when I joined SPN - Sikhi sites. It came in handy here for a student writing a research paper. Hope Satyadhi can find something useful.


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