SARI 2016 Annual and International Colloquium
26, 27 and 28 May 2016
To be held in the premises of the University of Paris 13
With the support of
CERAP, Université de Paris 13
& CREA Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense
Guest speakers
Prof. Jon Solomon, Université Lyon 3
and
Dr. Naomi Appleton, Université of Edinburgh
Variations, Rewritings and Adaptations of the Jātaka Tales and Buddhism in India Today
The Jātakas, "birth-stories" or tales of Gautama Buddha's past lives and appearances both human and animal, constitute the main fiction genre of the Theravada Buddhist literature and serve as mediators of knowledge between the different constituents of Buddha's teaching and related life principles. Besides the semi-canonical Jātakatthavannanā, the largest and most prominent collection, composed in Pāli, there exist other Jātaka stories either organized as collections or scattered throughout other early Buddhist texts. The interest for the Jātakas has never faded, not only in South and South East Asia where they were born, and circulated, but also the world over.
These tales from the far away past (between 4th century BCE and 5th century AD) have been retold, rendered, or adapted, and appear thus in a great number of versions, variations, and translations. The Jātakas serve not only as a source of creation in literature, but have more interestingly been recreated in diverse art forms, such as architecture, painting, cinema, theatre, dance or oral recitations.
The objective of the conference is not only to revive interest in the inexhaustible literary source that the Jatakas represent but also to take stock of the relevance and impact of Buddhism in India today.
The conference invites papers exploring the Jātaka tales within a large spectrum of cultural and cross-cultural contexts along the following possible lines:
I. Textual analysis
- the Jātakas as genre: tales or fables told in verse or prose
-linguistic aspects of the Jātakas: language and style
-the Jātakas and Buddha's biographies; significance of the tales as per Buddha's biographies
-the Jātakas' symbols and significations
-Bodhisattva as animal representation and the world of nature in the Jātakas: animals, plants, cosmological representations
-Bodhisattva as animal representation and the world of nature in the Jātakas: animals, plants, cosmological representations
-representations of the divine and the human in the Jātakas
II. Comparative analysis
-popular folk sources of the Jātakas
-the Jātakas and same-culture narratives: parallels of the Jātakas in other Indian literary creations (Panchatantra, Mahabharata, Ramayana; the Jātakas and the Avadānas)
- the Jātakas and other-culture narratives: e. g. European connections (Herodotus, Aesop, Lafontaine etc.)
- the Jātakas and other-culture narratives: e. g. European connections (Herodotus, Aesop, Lafontaine etc.)
- renderings and adaptations of the Jātakas
- the Jātakas in translation
- the Jātakas in translation
-the Jātakas as other artistic representations: e.g. painting, sculpture, film, theatre
-reception of the Jātakas in different cultures
-representations of the Jātakas in popular art
-representations of the Jātakas in popular art
III. The Jātakas and their diverse cultural interpretations
-the Jātakas in the context of Buddhism/Pali Canon (Theravadda Buddhism: Sutta Pitaka /one of the "three baskets", Khuddaka Nikaya), the Jātaka canon and outside; "official" and apocryphal Jātakas
-the Jātakas and the Buddhist concept of rebirth in dialogue: endorsed or challenged by other concepts or theories (same-culture, cross-cultural contexts)
-the Jātakas and their relational context: the figure of narrator, audience, purpose, the perception of the Jatakas in the today's society.
-ideological features of the Jātakas
- research on the Jātakas
IV. Buddhism in India today
- Buddhism and nonviolence: Gandhi, Tagore, Ambedkar, relations with Islam
- conversion to Buddhism, especially of Dalits
- the current state of the Buddhist minority
- the weight of Tibet in India-China relations
- Japanese contribution to the conservation of Buddhist cultural heritage
- the cultural heritage of Buddhism as a factor of diplomatic reconciliation between India and Sri Lanka
- Buddhism and Burmese democracy
While these are topics for general orientation, the organizers will be happy to welcome various other suggestions and proposals from colleagues interested in attending the event.
Abstracts that do not exceed 200 words should be sent to <ludmila.volna@free.fr> with copy to geetha.dore@univ-paris13.fr
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Thanks & Regards:
Abu Saleh
PhD Research Scholar @ Centre for Comparative Literature (CCL)
School of Humanities, University of Hyderabad (UoH), India.
Mobile: +91 94 94 24 26 45
Mobile: +91 94 94 24 26 45
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abusalehenglish
Twitter: https://twitter.com/abusalehenglish
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