| Abstract: | This review essay considers three recent introductory textbooks on Sikhism by Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh (Sikhism: An Introduction. New York: I.B. Taurus, 2011), Doris Jakobsh (Sikhism. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2012), and Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair (Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Bloomsbury, 2013). The review begins with a brief historical précis of the early production of texts on Sikhs and Sikhism in North America, as well as the politicized contexts in which they were produced. As heirs to this (and earlier) history, the textbooks examined in the present review share a common premise: namely, each seeks to unsettle what their respective authors understand as the enduring specter of colonialism. The authors and their textbooks recognize the need to better reflect Sikh experience and self-understanding. At the same time, these textbooks illustrate a tremendous range of pedagogical trajectories and heuristic orientations: feminist and aesthetic, disparity and diversity, and conceptual and linguistic. Having used all three of these textbooks in undergraduate classes, the reviewer concludes with some reflections on pedagogy drawn from his own experiences and student responses to the texts. |
