[INDOLOGY] New publication: Buddhism and the Dynamics of Transculturality

[Birgit Kellner]

Dear colleagues,

(apologies for cross-posting). This is to inform you of a new volume 
that just came out with DeGruyter: "Buddhism and the Dynamics of 
Transculturality", edited by Birgit Kellner, with contributions by Ingo 
Strauch, Anna Filigenzi, Toru Funayama, Lothar Ledderose, Anna Andreeva, 
Fabio Rambelli, Davide Torri, Markus Viehbeck and Jonathan Samuels. The 
volume is also available for free download in Open Access from the 
publisher's website: https://www.degruyter.com/view/product/453570?format=G

Abstract: "For over 2500 years, Buddhism was implicated in processes of 
cultural interaction that in turn shaped Buddhist doctrines, practices 
and institutions. While the cultural plurality of Buddhism has often 
been remarked upon, the transcultural processes that constitute this 
plurality, and their long-term effects, have scarcely been studied as a 
topic in their own right. The contributions to this volume present 
detailed case studies ranging across different time periods, regions and 
disciplines, and they address methodological challenges as well as 
theoretical problems. In addition to casting a spotlight on topics as 
diverse as the role of trade contacts in the early spread of Buddhism, 
the hybrid nature of religious practices in Japan or Indo-Tibetan 
relations in Tibetan polemical literature, the individual papers jointly 
raise the question as to whether there might be something distinct about 
how Buddhism steers and influences forms of cultural exchange, and is in 
turn shaped by modalities of cultural interaction throughout Asian, as 
well as global, history. The volume is intended to demonstrate the need 
for investigating transcultural dynamics more closely in the study of 
Buddhism, and to suggest new avenues for Buddhist Studies."

With best regards,

Birgit Kellner

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Prof. Dr. Birgit Kellner
Director
Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia
Austrian Academy of Sciences
Hollandstrasse 11-13/2
1020 Wien / Vienna
Austria
Phone: +43-(0)1-51581-6420
Fax: +43-(0)1-51581-6410