Imagining a Place for Buddhism Literary Culture and Religious Community in Tamil-Speaking South India

by Monius, Anne E.

• ISBN13: 9780195139990
• ISBN10: 0195139992
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-12-06
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

While Tamil-speaking South India is celebrated for its preservation of Hindu tradition, other religious communities have played a significant role in shaping the region's religious history. Among these non-Hindu communities is that of the Buddhists, who are little-understood because of the scarcity of remnants of Tamil-speaking Buddhist culture. Here, focusing on the two Buddhist texts in Tamil that are complete (a sixth-century poetic narrative and an eleventh-century treatise on grammar and poetics), Monius sheds light on the role of literature and literary culture in the formation, articulation, and evolution of religious identity and community.

Author Biography

Anne E. Monius is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia.

Table of Contents

Note on Transliteration and Translation	xi
Introduction	3	(10)
Reading Manimekalai as Buddhist Literature	13	(45)
The Manimekalai's Community of Readers and Listeners	58	(29)
The Manimekalai's Buddhist Community Envisioned	87	(29)
The Viracoliyam: Language, Literary Theory, and Religious Community	116	(21)
Imagining Community Through Commentary	137	(19)
Conclusion	156	(5)
Notes	161	(66)
Bibliography	227	(18)
Index	245