accessibility to plastic stick-on kolams, and frequent use of stone flour instead of rice, this ritual of generosity, hospitality, and repaying one’s debt increasingly loses its meaning. Another striking contribution of this book is the notion of ‘embedded ecologies’ and the way it has been used to understand how kolam making, which reflects the cultural, social, and religious values of the Tamil community is connected to the natural world. The author explores, how ‘ecological notions, beliefs, and practices are embedded in cultural forms, particularly in religious and aesthetic practices . . .’ Shemoves from a static understanding of ‘embedded ecology’ to a contested one, to understand how the social locations of different actors lead them to rank the natural world and its elements differently.While the author expresses surprise that the belief system of human beings, particularly their religious and cultural beliefs that gave sacrality to the natural world, is not necessarily reflected in their quotidian behaviour and practices, she introduces the concept of ‘intermittent sacrality’ to resolve this tension. Thus, while one worships that natural world and treats it with respect, it does not naturally lead to ecological and conservationist practices that sustain the same world, despite the sacredness attributed to it. The kolam, Nagarajan argues, is an example par excellence of this ‘intermittent sacrality.’ This notion of ‘intermittent sacrality’ argues against an essentialized Indian Hindu identity which is a priori prone to ecological conservation. This problematization of the relation between a belief of sacrality and ecological behaviour is foregrounded by the discrepancies between the manner and the belief system behind the making of the kolam and the everyday practices and attitude of the kolam-maker. For instance, while the kolam is a way of acknowledging and paying respect to the Earth Goddess Bhudevi, it does not necessarily lead to greater respect and ecological conservation of the soil by the same communities who practice it. Women honour Bhudevi in the morning by making kolams at the crack of dawn, and yet, subsequently engage in various activities throughout the day that clearly violates this honour. Thus, the author argues, to understand ‘embedded ecological knowledge’ one cannot fall back automatically on existing cultural and religious beliefs. This book is about women’s ritual, in this case the rituals of kolam and how it is a repository of knowledge, culture, and beliefs of the Tamil community. It examines the value system surrounding the kolam, how it shapes lives, conveys-communicates messages, and is embedded in rituals and economies of gifts, generosity, and hospitality.

中文翻译：

---

语言在印度殖民地的身份：政策和政治

容易获得塑料粘着的可拉姆，并且经常使用石粉代替大米，这种慷慨，好客和偿还债务的仪式越来越失去其意义。本书的另一个突出贡献是“嵌入式生态学”的概念，以及它被用来理解可拉姆制作的方式，反映了泰米尔人社区的文化，社会和宗教价值与自然世界的联系。作者探讨了“生态观念，信仰和实践”如何嵌入文化形式，尤其是宗教和美学实践中。。。” 她从对“嵌入式生态”的静态理解转变为一个有争议的概念，以了解不同参与者的社会位置如何导致他们对自然世界及其元素的排名不同。尽管作者感到惊讶的是，人类的信仰体系，特别是赋予自然的神圣性的宗教和文化信仰并不一定反映在他们的日常行为和实践中，但她引入了“间歇性神圣性”的概念来解决这一问题。紧张。因此，尽管人们崇拜自然世界并予以尊重，但尽管自然赋予了神圣性，但自然不会导致维持同一世界的生态和保护主义者的做法。纳加拉詹认为，可兰经就是这种“间歇性牺牲”的典范。“断断续续的牺牲性”这一观念与本质上印度教徒的印度教徒身份背道而驰，印度教徒先验者倾向于生态保护。破坏行为的信念和生态行为之间的关系的这种问题化是由制造kolam的方式和信念体系与kolam制造者的日常实践和态度之间的差异所引起的。例如，虽然可兰经是承认和尊重地球女神布迪维的一种方式，但不一定会导致同一实践社区对土壤的更大尊重和生态保护。妇女在早上通过在黎明时分做kolams来向Bhudevi致敬，但随后在一天当中从事各种明显违背这一荣誉的活动。因此，作者认为，要理解“嵌入式生态知识”，就不能自动依赖现有的文化和宗教信仰。这本书是关于妇女的仪式，在这种情况下，是关于可兰经的仪式，以及它如何是泰米尔人社区的知识，文化和信仰的仓库。它研究了围绕可拉姆的价值体系，它如何塑造生活，传达和传达信息，并嵌入礼物，慷慨和好客的礼节和经济中。