AbstractsHistory

This Master thesis explores how the English colonization has affected the history of the Tantric philosophy by applying a Foucaultian method of Genealogy and the theory of Orientalism presented by Edward Said on the field of Tantra. It bridges the gap between the Eurocentric theoretization of Foucault and the loss of the Foucaultian use of the concept of Discourse in Said’s Orientalism, by applying Robert Young’s discussion of how to reintroduce Foucault’s Discourse on Said’s Orientalism. This allows an opening up for an exploration of the discursive practices on Tantra since 1750 until today, which uses a more open concept of discourse than within the traditional Orientalism, due to the reintroduction of the Foucaultian concept of discourse. The history of the Tantric philosophy is scrutinized through a reading of the archive on Tantra within above mentioned timespan and the centers of power and knowledge have been located and thereafter has the literature been explored. It is found that the history of Tantra is interwoven with the history of colonization, though not limited to that only. It is therefore concluded that the history of Tantra is a history of interplay between various forces including the colonial, the Vedantic, the Tantric and the nationalist forces, which all have taken part in negotiating and renegotiating the content of Tantra. All of above mentioned have in common that they all take part in constructing a ‘dangerous’ Tantra and a ‘bad’ tantrika, but the content of these two empty categories changes during the discursive formations. Thus, Tantra is a floating signifier which is constantly negotiated and filled with different meanings according to the position of the authority constructing the content of Tantra.