28.11.2024Exploring Buddhism in Medieval Japanese Fiction

Speaker

Prof. Keller Kimbrough (University of Colorado, Boulder)

Date and Venue

November 28, 2024, 6:15 pm - 7:45 pm

Venue

Rämistrasse 71, CH-8001 Zürich, Room KOL-E-21

Abstract

The world of Japanese Buddhist fiction is a wild one, full of demons, dragons, miracles, and mayhem. In the present talk, Keller Kimbrough will describe some of the more important things that he has learned about medieval Japanese religious culture over his thirty years of reading, translating, and writing about Japanese Buddhist fiction from the twelfth through seventeenth centuries. His talk will trace the course of the late-medieval sekkyō 説経 sermon-ballad Aigo-no-waka あいごの若 (Little Aigo) and other works of Buddhist fiction to argue for a largely trans-sectarian understanding of the medieval Japanese religious landscape as one that was dominated by miracle-granting icons, supernatural cult figures, tales of abusive stepmothers, and the magic of esoteric rites.

Keller Kimbrough is Professor of Japanese and Chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is a native of Colorado and Tennessee.

Organization

Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies - Japanese Studies