William E. Deal
Show moreTDR Comment discusses the responses of Routledge, leaders in the field, and TDR Contributing Editors concerning Theory for Performance Studies, involving William Deal and Timothy Beal, Case Western Reserve University, Department of Religious Studies.
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Show moreTHIS PAPER EXPLORES the “rhetoric of legitimation,” that is, the use of religious discourse based on an authoritative text in order to legitimate political and social agendas. Speci³cally, I will examine two eleventh-century Japanese works, the Hokke genki of the Buddhist monastic ascetics known as hokke hijiri, and the Eiga monogatari of lay Buddhist aristocrats (kizoku).
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Show moreRegardless of his own stated purpose or expected outcome for the Risshõ ankoku ron, one of Nichiren’s accomplishments in writing this treatise was the articulation of a canon, that is, a list of texts that were deemed true and authoritative from his perspective, as distinguished from other writings that were not. This essay explores the process of canon formation in Nichiren Buddhism, focusing on the structure and argument of the Risshõ ankoku ron. Noting ³ve notions present in the process of canon formation, namely, selectivity, hierarchy, closure, orthodoxy, and legitimation, it examines the particular way these elements are manifest in the treatise in question.
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