Imagining the Fetus

In contemporary Western culture, the word "fetus" introduces either a political subject or a literal, medicalized entity. Neither of these frameworks does justice to the vast array of religious literature and oral traditions from cultures around the world in which the fetus emerges as a powerful symbol or metaphor. This volume presents essays that explore the depiction of the fetus in the world's major religious traditions, finding some striking commonalities as well as intriguing differences. Among the themes that emerge is the tendency to conceive of the fetus as somehow independent of the mother's body -- as in the case of the Buddha, who is described as inhabiting a palace while gestating in the womb. On the other hand, the fetus can also symbolically represent profound human needs and emotions, such as the universal experience of vulnerability. The authors note how the advent of the fetal sonogram has transformed how people everywhere imagine the unborn today, giving rise to a narrow range of decidedly literal questions about personhood, gender, and disability.
"Canvassing many world religions, as well as dealing capably with biblical traditions, teh contributors have assembled and analyzed a wealth of intriguing materials. ...This collection of essays will appeal to the full range of readers; it will be valuable to researchers, yet accessible enough for undergraduate courses and helpful to a general audience seeking insights beyond the rhetorical impasse of current debates." --Choice

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS; 1. Introduction: Restoring Nuance to the Imagination of the Fetus; 2. The Story of Sa+kar+a+as and K++as Births: A Drama Involving Embryos; 3. The Great Men of Jainism in Utero; 4. A Womb With a View: The Buddhas Final Fetal Experiences; 5. Life in the Womb: Conception and Gestation in Buddhist Scripture& Classical Indian Medical Literature; 6. Philosophical Embryology: Buddhist Texts and the Ritual Construction of a Fetus; 7. Tibetan Buddhist Narratives of the Forces of Creation; 8. Feticide in the Punjab and Fetus Imagery in Sikhism; 9. Embryology in the Ancient Near East; 10. Famous Fetuses in Rabbinic Literature; 11. The Leaping Child: Imagining the Unborn in Early Christian Literature; 12. A Prophet Emerging: Fetal Narratives in Islamic Literature; 13. The Colossal Fetuses of La Venta and Mesoamericas Earliest Creation Story; 14. Out of Place: Fetal References in Japanese Mythology and Cultural Memory; 15. Seeing Like a Family: Fetal Ultrasound Images and Imaginings of Kin