Jessica Zu, USC Dornsife, School of Religion, Los Angeles, California, USA.
關鍵詞
Buddhist modernism; colonial gaze; Peking operas; social consciousness; Tagore; universal religion
摘要
The current study reveals that the Buddhist egalitarian spiritual message found global resonance in an era of globalized inequality. By comparing three modern retellings of an ancient romance between an outcaste (untouchable/Dalit) maiden and the Buddha's attendant Ānanda, this study showcases a shared socio-spiritual horizon that emerged in the Indian and Chinese Buddhist revivals and that thwarted colonial epistemic domination and offered powerful social critiques. More specifically, this study shows that the Indian and Chinese afterlives of the romance display innovative formations of Buddhist social consciousness. The authors reinterpreted equality and freedom on Buddhist terms, creating a new standard of civilization. Employing this “already democratic” Buddhist civilization, they launched critiques of the Indian caste system and Chinese patriarchy. This socio-spiritual horizon subverts the typecast images of “spiritual India” and “rational China.” Whereas these images reflect the limits of the comparative lens based on political regimes – namely, Indian democracy and Chinese socialism – the current study goes beyond regime types by examining diverse formations of universal religion in the cultural sphere. More broadly, a critical strategy for provincializing Europe is to block the colonial gaze and instead showcase the vibrant cultural productions and meaning-making that circulated at the margins of empire.
目次
Abstract 215 One Buddhist romance, multiple transmissions 218 Chandalika, the Poona Act, and the birth of Buddhist social consciousness in India 221 The Chinese Retelling of Modengjia nü: from a prostitute to the Buddhist ‘modern girl’ 225 The promises and limits of cultural comparisons 236 References 237
