Buddhist Auto/biography (315-0-20)

Instructors

Sarah Jacoby
8474671304
Department of Religious Studies, Crowe Hall 4-134, 1860 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208
Office Hours: Wed 1-3pm, Crowe 4-149

Meeting Info

University Library 4670: Wed 3:00PM - 5:30PM

Overview of class

In the middle of the twentieth century, cutting-edge literary theorists concluded that autobiography was exclusively a product of "Western" individualistic culture, thereby ignoring the literary output of large parts of the globe, including the Buddhist religious literature of Asia. The goal of this course is to explore Buddhist biography and autobiography as literary genres and as lenses through which we can examine the various meanings of living an exemplary Buddhist life, focusing on religious literature from India and Tibet.

Questions the course will probe include: How did a religious doctrine such as Buddhism, which denies the ultimate existence of the self, become a major locus of auto/biographical writing? What is the nature of the self as it is expressed in Buddhist religious auto/biography, and what were the aims of this literature? What can we learn from reading biographies and autobiographies about Buddhist selves, societies, and histories? How do differences of gender, nationality, and religious lineage inform auto/biographical representations of the self?

Course readings will be 1) English translations of Indian and Tibetan religious biographies and autobiographies and 2) theoretical approaches to the study of biography and autobiography drawn from a diverse array of literary theorists including Jerome Bruner, Georges Gusdorf, Sidonie Smith, Paul John Eakin, and others. Through reading primary source literature and theoretical essays hand-in-hand, classroom discussions will explore the relevance of Euro-American literary theory for the study of Buddhist auto/biography while paying close attention to its narrative themes and tropes.

Learning Objectives

• Gain familiarity with key Buddhist concepts and doctrines, such as no self (anātman), as lived traditions • Analyze how stories of the self are narrated in Sanskrit and Tibetan literature (in English translation) and place these in larger comparative contexts
• Apply literary theory on biography and autobiography and be able to evaluate its usefulness for the study of Buddhist biography
• Develop skill in close-reading, effective speaking, and lucid writing integral to both liberal arts education and professional life

Teaching Method

Class Attributes

Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Interdisciplinary Distro-rules apply
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area
Ethics & Values Distro Area