Abstract
If the world must be changed by action, “it must be malleable” (Durkheim 1983). In The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), William James conceptualizes religion as the reasonability and the right of an individual to have personal faith derived from firsthand religious experiences and original feelings which lead one to positive and constructive outcomes. This paper explores the spirituality of action through James’ concept of religion and the fictional representation of the same in O. V. Vijayan’s novels: Khasakkinte Ithihasam(1969) and Gurusagaram (1987). The paper theorizes the evolving field of spiritual pragmatism, seemingly contradictory though, by reading together O. V. Vijayan’s fiction and William James’ pragmatism, thereby, reviving interest in pragmatism that tends toward a spirituality of action and proposing an approach to the humanities.
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Balakrishnan, V., Dennis, S. (2021). Spirituality of Action: Reading O. V. Vijayan’s Khasakkinte Ithihasam and Gurusagaram Through William James’ Concept of Religion. In: Giri, A.K. (eds) Pragmatism, Spirituality and Society. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7114-5_15
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