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Document Details :

Title: Shaivism's Nataraja and Picasso's Crucifixion
Subtitle: An Essay in Comparative Visual Theology
Author(s): SYDNOR, Jon Paul
Journal: Studies in Interreligious Dialogue
Volume: 15    Issue: 1   Date: 2005   
Pages: 86-100
DOI: 10.2143/SID.15.1.583343

Abstract :
To know well, must we know through difference? Can human beings know more through comparison with the other than through the most rigorous study of the same? Although there has been much debate on this subject, little concrete evidence has been offered either way. This study hopes to provide such evidence. To do so, we compare the Nataraja of Shaivite devotionalism and Picasso’s 1930 Crucifixion, reflecting on each work first in isolation and then in relation to the other. Through this comparison we will generate em-pirical data regarding the relationship between difference and interpretation. The study will conclude that excellence in interpretation is only achieved through the encounter with difference.

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