Special Section: Toward a Comparative Anthropology of Buddhism
關鍵詞
anthropology of Buddhism; Buddhist ritual; comparison; Mahāyāna Buddhism; reflexivity; religious field; tantric Buddhism; Theravāda Buddhism
摘要
The anthropology of Buddhism may give the impression of already having a well-established lineage. However, understood as a collective endeavor bringing together specialists from different parts of the Buddhist world in a comparative spirit, it remains very much an emerging project. We outline in this introduction some of the striking features of the beginnings of this subfield, such as how it has undergone a process of emancipation from textualist interpretations of Buddhism, and survey some of its main thematic and analytic orientations, pointing in particular to its most substantial ‘long conversation’, on the structure and dynamics of Buddhist religious fields. Throughout, we focus primarily on the period following an assessment of the subfield made by David Gellner in 1990. Finally, we stress the importance and highlight the promise of a comparative anthropology of Buddhism that builds on a critical, reflexive examination of its central concepts.
目次
The Project of an "Anthropology of Buddhism" 109 "Buddhism" 110 ‘Anthropology’ 112 The Trajectories of an Emerging Subfield 112 Early Approaches 112 Text-Centered Disciplines and the Anthropology of Buddhism 112 Thematic Emphases 114 Core Features 114 Key Peripheries—and Beyond 115 A Major ‘Long Conversation’ 116 Comparison 117 Global, Regional, and Intra-cultural Comparison—Within and Beyond Buddhism 118 Reflexivity in Comparison 120 Conclusion 121
