The Cult of the Androgyne

In postmodernist and poststructuralist approaches, the very idea of men and women as discrete and unitary categories is challenged. What emerges is an alternative gender status that offers a range of possibilities, from only slightly effeminate men to androgynous or transgender persons to those who completely cross-dress and act as women.The book The Cult of the Androgyne: Reflections in Life and Literature, Art and Religion attempts to trace the source of this cult in the past history of human society and in the ancient religious ethos, beliefs and practices. Simultaneously, it makes a sweeping survey of the influence of this cult in present social life, in literature and in the sphere of aesthetics. The volume encompasses a frank autobiographical confession of one, claiming to belong to this group, examines the androgynous constitution of the animal world and traces the reflection of this cult on Indian Nrityashastra.