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Understanding Chan Kōan as a Literary Genre |
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| Author |
Van Overmeire, Ben (著)
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| Source |
Hualin International Journal of Buddhist Studies
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| Volume | v.6 n.1 Special Issue |
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| Date | 2023.05 |
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| Pages | 111 - 144 |
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| Publisher | Cambria Press |
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| Publisher Url |
http://www.cambriapress.com/
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| Location | New York, US [紐約州, 美國] |
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| Content type | 期刊論文=Journal Article |
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| Language | 英文=English |
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| Note | 1. Special Issue: Buddhist Narrative Literature.
2. Author Affiliation: Duke Kunshan University, China. |
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| Keyword | Chan Buddhism; Zen Buddhism; kōan; comparative literature; American Buddhism; genre studies |
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| Abstract | Though we understand well the historical contexts in which kōan originated and to what rhetorical purposes they were put, relatively little attention has been paid to kōan as a literary genre. In this paper, I propose that our understanding of the rhetorical operation of kōan benefits from a genre studies approach. Specifically, after disambiguating the terms cases, kōan, and encounter dialogue, I will argue that this genre is best understood as a type of riddle, namely the neck riddle. Neck riddles create a hierarchical situation, suggest esoteric knowledge, create a contest of life and death, and bring the miraculous back to the everyday. To show that kōan were already understood to have such functions during the high point of Zen, namely the Song dynasty, I will close read commentaries from two of the most influential kōan collections: the Wumen guan and the Biyan lu. I will then compare these readings with contemporary interpretations in memoirs of American Zen practitioners to show that kōan are still understood to function as neck riddles today. |
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| Table of contents | Abstract 111
Keywords 111
Introduction 112
Modern Rejections of Applying the Term Riddle to Kōan 112
A Sample Kōan 116
Kōan, Encounter Dialogues, Standards, or What? 118
What is Genre? 121
What Genre is It? 124
Alternative Possibility: Religious Biography 131
Classic Kōan Collections 132
Contemporary Kōan Interpretations by American Practitioners 136
Conclusion 140
Bibliography 141
Abbreviations 141
Primary Sources 141
Secondary Sources 141 |
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| ISSN | 25762923 (P); 25762931 (E) |
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| DOI | 10.15239/hijbs.06.01.03 |
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| Hits | 49 |
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| Created date | 2024.08.22 |
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| Modified date | 2024.08.26 |
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