Curators of the Buddha: The Study of Buddhism Under Colonialism

The volume opens with an examination of nineteenth-century Theravāda scholarship and the interaction between European academic methods and indigenous Buddhist commentarial traditions. It then turns to colonial representations of Gandhāran art, modern Japanese Zen and nationalism, Buddhist studies under Italian Fascism, Jung’s psychological interpretation of Asian religion, and the methodological difficulties of Western research in Tibetan monasteries. Across these essays, the contributors analyze how Buddhism was constructed as a textual, philosophical, artistic, mystical, and national tradition. The book concludes by emphasizing that scholars are not neutral custodians of Buddhist knowledge but active participants in selecting, translating, organizing, and authorizing particular representations of Buddhism.