Ancient, Spiritual, and Indian: Exploring Narratives of Authenticity in Modern Yoga

Abstract

One of the most prominent debates in academic literature, popular media, and yogic communitiesis whether modern yoga can be considered authentic. Yet this question relies on several problematic assumptions about the character of yoga, its history, and even its current forms. Grounded in the perceived relationship between modern and premodern yoga traditions, authenticity often becomes an authorizing discourse for particular representations or practices rather than a verifiable fact. It is deployed in an increasingly commercial environment as not only an authorizing discourse, but also a marketing tool. Most importantly, however, authenticity is one of the key pivot points from which media representations and practitioners negotiate the meaning of yoga. I am not, therefore, interested in proving or disproving the authenticity of modern yoga, but in how and to what effect these often problematic claims are made.