Theravada Literature After “Roads Taken and Not Taken”: Reflections on Recent Textual Studies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4727617Keywords:
Theravada Buddhism, Pali, vernacular literature, multilingualism, intellectual historyAbstract
This article sketches the study of Theravada Buddhist literature over the past twenty-five years. Drawing on Charles Hallisey’s influential essay, “Roads Taken and Not Taken in the Study of Theravāda Buddhism,” I survey the ways in which scholars have heeded his calls to study texts beyond the canon, to attend to issues of translation, and to examine the local production of meaning. I show how these calls correspond to three recent trends: increased emphasis on non-canonical Pali and vernacular texts; a renewed interest in multilingual texts and the cultures of translation that shaped them; and new models for charting intellectual histories of Theravada Buddhist societies beyond local confines.
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Copyright (c) 2021 Trent Walker
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