Berkeley Workshop: Religion and the Literary in Tibet
Religion and the Literary in Tibet
Supported by a generous grant from the Tsadra Foundation
Co-sponsored by the Center for Buddhist Studies and the Institute of East Asian Studies at UC Berkeley
October 17-18, 2015 at the University of California, Berkeley
In 2015 Tsadra Foundation supported the work of the AAR group Religion and the Literary in Tibet by funding a workshop at the University of California, Berkeley, organized by Jacob Dalton, Kurtis Schaeffer, Andy Quintman and Janet Gyatso. This workshop was the culmination of a five-year series of meetings held with leading scholar-translators in the field. A published volume of essays is expected in 2018, containing the blue prints for more nuanced literary understandings of Tibetan writings.
Schedule
Saturday morning
9:00-10:30- Respondent Paula Varsano (Classical Chinese Literature)
9:00-9:45: Janet Gyatso
Tripping Down Stairs: On the Way to Enlightenment in the Lifestory of Milarepa
9:45-10:30: Sarah Jacoby
Autobiographical Ventriloquy in a Tibetan Woman’s Life Narrative
10:30-10:45: Coffee Break
10:45-12:15 – Respondent Andrew Jones (Modern Chinese Literature)
10:45-11:30: Brandon Dotson
Readings Like the Dead Horse Listens: Textualized Funeral Rituals as Literature
11:30-12:15: Jann Ronis
Epistolary Earrings for the Royals of Degé
12:15-1:30: Catered lunch
Saturday afternoon
1:30 – 3:00 – Respondent Harsha Ram (Russian Literature)
1:30-2:15: Jake Dalton
The Rise of Evocative Language in Early Tantric Buddhist Ritual Manuals
2:15-3:00: Jonathan Gold
Clear Words and Subtle Meaning: Sakya Pandita’s Approach to Prayer (bstod pa)
3:00-4:30 – Respondent Mack Horton (Premodern Japanese Literature)
3:00-3:45: Nancy Lin
Filling Vases and Stringing Garlands: Condensing Buddhist Stories in Tibet
3:45-4:30: Holly Gayley
Tibetan Epistolary Revelations: Performative Speech in the Correspondence of a Buddhist Visionary Couple
4:30-4:45: Coffee Break
4:45-6:15 – No respondent—open discussion
4:45-5:30: Kurtis Schaeffer
Two Different Approaches to the Life of the Buddha in Tibet 1: Nanam Tsünpa
5:30-6:15: Andrew Quintman
Two Different Approaches to the Life of the Buddha in Tibet 2: Tāranātha
7:00 Dinner at Arabica
Sunday morning
9:00 -11:15 – Respondent Alan Tansman (Modern Japanese Literature)
9:00-9:45: Ben Bogin
Nyangrel’s Narrative Spontaneity: A Key to the Copper Palace
9:45-10:30: Carl Yamamoto
Lama Zhang: Self-Shaming Requested by Gurub Réwaki
10:30-11:15: Nicole Willock and Gendun Rabsal
Tibetan Literary Tradition: “The Avadāna of Silver Flowers” by Tséten Zhabdrung Jikmé Rigpai Lödro
11:15-11:30: Coffee Break
11:30-12:30: Roundup Session
Participant Observers:
- Roger Jackson, Carleton College
- Lara Braitstein, McGill University
- Frances Garrett, University of Toronto
- Marcus Perman, Tsadra Foundation
