Die Göttin Kālī in Ost und West. Von der blutrünstigen Stammesgöttin zur Galeonsfigur der Frauenemanzipation

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Catalogue identifier: klm000079
Alternate titles and import identifiers: KLM000079; The Goddess Kālī in East and West: From Bloodthirsty Tribal Goddess to Figurehead of Women’s Emancipation
Author or attribution: Elisabeth Hofstätter
Record type: Thesis
Language: German
Date / edition: 2002
Source / repository: University of Vienna, Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies; institutional copy hosted by the Department of Religious Studies
Access: Open access
Subjects: KLM Research Sources — Second Set, 5 November 2026; Theses and Dissertations; Philosophy, Theology, and Comparative Religion; Contemporary Worship and Living Traditions; Art, Iconography, and Epigraphic Studies

Description and curator notes

Hofstätter’s German diploma thesis surveys Kali’s development in South Asian religious traditions and compares it with her reception in Western goddess spirituality. The first part discusses textual evidence, relationships with Shiva and other deities, Tantra, Bengali devotional poets, Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi and female worshippers. Separate sections examine iconography, worship at Kalighat and Dakshineswar, theological interpretations and liberation practices. Its later chapters turn to gender, the domestication or “sweetening” of Kali imagery, Western feminist appropriation, popular media and psychological readings. A concluding discussion is followed by a glossary, bibliography and extensive index. This is useful as a substantial German-language map of earlier scholarship and of interpretive questions circulating around 2002. It should be read as a dated academic synthesis, not as a critical edition or new fieldwork. Some origin narratives and contrasts between South Asian and Western women’s experience draw on older generalizations; readers should compare them with subsequent historical and ethnographic research rather than treat the thesis title’s evolutionary progression as settled fact.

Curator research source KLM000079, second set dated 5 November 2026. Verification, chronology, completeness, access and licence statements below are supplied by the curator, not a new independent audit by this library. Full texts are linked, not reproduced. Abstract languages do not change the full work's language label.

Die Göttin Kālī in Ost und West. Von der blutrünstigen Stammesgöttin zur Galeonsfigur der Frauenemanzipation

Author and date: Elisabeth Hofstätter • 2002

Publication: University of Vienna, Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies; institutional copy hosted by the Department of Religious Studies. Diplomarbeit submitted for the Magister degree, supervised by Birgit Heller; 321-page institutional scan.

Language: German

English title: The Goddess Kālī in East and West: From Bloodthirsty Tribal Goddess to Figurehead of Women’s Emancipation

Kali relevance: The entire thesis concerns Kali, including historically related forms, Bengali devotional figures, iconography, ritual, theology and contemporary feminist reception.

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Publication or repository record

Subjects: Theses and Dissertations; Philosophy, Theology, and Comparative Religion; Contemporary Worship and Living Traditions; Art, Iconography, and Epigraphic Studies

Dates: 2002 modern scholarly synthesis; underlying historical sources belong to distinct periods; Institutionally hosted scan of the submitted thesis; PDF metadata records processing in September 2026, not a new composition date

Rights: Free-to-read institutional thesis. No open reproduction license located. Copyright remains applicable; link to the university copy rather than reproduce the thesis or its illustrations.

Verification and limits: The complete 321-page scan is legible; representative sections, conclusion, bibliography and final index checked. Not an exhaustive review. Some origin narratives and gender generalizations are dated and require critical handling.

Source and alternate access links:
Read the complete text: https://rw-ktf.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/rw-ktf/Studium/Absolvent_innen/2002/2002_Die_Goettin_Kali_in_Ost_und_West._Von_der_blutruenstigen_Stammesgoettin_zur_Galeonsfigur_der_Frauenemanzipation__Elisabeth_Hofstaetter_.pdf
Publication or repository record: https://rw-ktf.univie.ac.at/en/studies/absolventinnen

Source access

Read or locate the original source at University of Vienna, Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies; institutional copy hosted by the Department of Religious Studies

Rights and reading conditions

Free-to-read institutional thesis. No open reproduction license located. Copyright remains applicable; link to the university copy rather than reproduce the thesis or its illustrations.

Citation

Elisabeth Hofstätter. Die Göttin Kālī in Ost und West. Von der blutrünstigen Stammesgöttin zur Galeonsfigur der Frauenemanzipation. University of Vienna, Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies; institutional copy hosted by the Department of Religious Studies. Diplomarbeit submitted for the Magister degree, supervised by Birgit Heller; 321-page institutional scan. 2002. https://rw-ktf.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/rw-ktf/Studium/Absolvent_innen/2002/2002_Die_Goettin_Kali_in_Ost_und_West._Von_der_blutruenstigen_Stammesgoettin_zur_Galeonsfigur_der_Frauenemanzipation__Elisabeth_Hofstaetter_.pdf

This page supplies catalogue metadata and links. It does not reproduce the underlying source text. Historical, religious, healing and interpretive claims belong to the cited sources, not to an independent verification by this catalogue.