Prema Simon Goet
Prema Simon Goet
Contact:
E-Mail: prema.simon.goet@univie.ac.at
Prema Goet joins the MANTRAMS project as a predoctoral researcher, bringing a wealth of interdisciplinary expertise in South Asian Studies. He holds a Master’s degree in Traditions of Yoga and Meditation from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, where his thesis explored the themes of reality and magic in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. Prema also holds a Bachelor of Arts in South Asian Studies and Sanskrit from SOAS, with a year of study in Pune, India. He has also engaged with these topics in relation to film, photography and media as well as in archival and curatorial work.
Prema Goet's research project, The Materiality of Mantra Technologies: Rethinking the Entextualized Body, examines the role of mantra practices and material culture across various forms within popular and Tantric-influenced ritual practices among contemporary Vaiṣṇava and Śākta practitioners in West Bengal and the Kathmandu Valley. Goet explores this topic through ethnographic research, textual studies, and cognitive theories on sensory and emotional experiences related to religion, self, and community. The project draws on the concept of the "Tantric body" being formed through a process of "entextualization" (Flood, 2006), where the practitioner's body is inscribed by the symbolic order of tradition and its core texts, transforming the body into a representation of that tradition. Goet aims to challenge conventional understandings of "text" and "body" by highlighting the broader material and sensory dimensions that shape affective experiences and meaning-making practices. A key part of his contribution to the MANTRAMS project is creating material for the audiovisual database, which will serve as a valuable resource for future research in the field of mantra studies.
Prema's extensive fieldwork experience in India and Nepal, along with his language proficiency in Sanskrit and Hindi will significantly enrich his contributions to the project.