| Writing as Enlightenment: Buddhist American Literature Into the Twenty-First Century Contributor(s): Whalen-Bridge, John (Editor), Storhoff, Gary (Editor), Willis, Jan (Foreword by) |
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ISBN: 1438439199 ISBN-13: 9781438439198 Publisher: State University of New York Press OUR PRICE: $90.25 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: August 2011 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Literary Criticism | American - General - Literary Criticism | Semiotics & Theory - Religion | Buddhism - General (see Also Philosophy - Buddhist) |
| Dewey: 810.938 |
| LCCN: 2011005365 |
| Series: Suny Buddhism and American Culture |
| Physical Information: 207 pages |
| Themes: - Religious Orientation - Buddhist |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This timely book explores how Buddhist-inflected thought has enriched contemporary American literature. Continuing the work begun in The Emergence of Buddhist American Literature, editors John Whalen-Bridge and Gary Storhoff and the volume's contributors turn to the most recent developments, revealing how mid-1970s through early twenty-first-century literature has employed Buddhist texts, principles, and genres. Just as Buddhism underwent indigenization when it moved from India to Tibet, to China, and to Japan, it is now undergoing that process in the United States. While some will find literary creativity in this process, others lament a loss of authenticity. The book begins with a look at the American reception of Zen and at the approaches to Dharma developed by African Americans. The work of consciously Buddhist and Buddhist-influenced writers such as Don DeLillo, Gary Snyder, and Jackson Mac Low is analyzed, and a final section of the volume contains interviews and discussions with contemporary Buddhist writers. These include an interview with Gary Snyder; a discussion with Maxine Hong Kingston and Charles Johnson; and discussions of competing American and Asian values at the Beat- and Buddhist-inspired writing program at Naropa University with poets Joanne Kyger, Reed Bye, Keith Abbott, Andrew Schelling, and Elizabeth Robinson. |