This volume explores the interaction between text and image in Indian Buddhist contexts, including not only the complex relationship between verbal stories and visual representations at Indian sites, but also the ways in which visual imagery is used within textual narratives. The chapters are authored by a mixture of textual scholars and art historians, bringing together different disciplinary perspectives in order to seek a richer understanding of how text and art relate, and of the role of narrative imagery in different media and contexts. The book opens with an introduction that explores what narratives and visual narratives are, and why we might want to study narrative images alongside imagery-rich literary narratives. The volume is then divided into three parts. The chapters in Part I: Visual Narratives (Zaghet, Reddy, Zin) explore visual depictions of stories in their own right; those in Part II: Narrative Networks (Mace, Appleton & Clark, Strong) seek to understand the relationship between specific visual and verbal narratives; and those in Part III: Narrative Visions (Gummer, Fiordalis, Walters) primarily investigate how visual imagery and visualisation work in textual narratives. The volume seeks to bridge the divide that traditionally exists between textual scholars and art historians, and to challenge the contributors to think beyond the usual boundaries of our work.
Edited by:
Appleton,
Naomi Appleton
Imprint: Equinox Publishing Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 6.246kg
ISBN: 9781800501300
ISBN 10: 1800501307
Pages: 302
Publication Date: 06 April 2022
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface 1. Setting the Scene: Verbal and Visual Narrative in Indian Buddhism Naomi Appleton PART I: VISUAL NARRATIVES 2. Rethinking Chronology and Narrative Modes: The Case of Sanchi Stupa 2 Flavia Zaghet 3. The Power of Image and Imagery: Visualising the Divine and the Human in the Painted Narratives of Ajanta Madhulika Reddy, University of Mumbai 4. Visualizing a Teaching: Sermon Scenes in Kucha Monika Zin, Leipzig University PART II: NARRATIVE NETWORKS 5. Localizing Narrative through Image: The Nun Utpalavarna in a Stone Relief from Kaushambi Sonya Rhie Mace, Clevelenad Museum of Art 6. Beyond Textual and Visual Versions : The Story Cluster of the Six-Tusked Elephant Bodhisattva Naomi Appleton and Chris Clark 7. Interpretations and (Mis)understandings: Three Case Studies of Illustrations of the Buddha's Lifestory John S. Strong, Bates College, Maine PART III: NARRATIVE VISIONS 8. The Buddha as Spiritual Sovereign: Narrative Figurations of Knowledge and Power David Fiordalis, Linfield University, Oregon 9. Seeing the Dharma: Narrative Darsan in the Vimalakirtinirdesa Natalie Gummer, Beloit College, Wisconsin 10. Making Senses of the Story: Narrative, Art and Affect in Ancient India Jonathan Walters, Whitman College, Washington
Naomi Appleton is Senior Lecturer in Asian Religions at the University of Edinburgh. Her primary research interest is the role of narrative in the construction, communication and challenge of religious ideas in early India, and she has published extensively on this area, including Jataka Stories in Theravada Buddhism (Ashgate 2010), Narrating Karma and Rebirth (CUP 2014), Shared Characters in Jain, Buddhist and Hindu Narrative (Routledge 2017), as well as translations of Buddhist narrative and numerous articles on related themes.
Reviews for Narrative Visions and Visual Narratives in Indian Buddhism
Reviews This entire volume is a noteworthy contribution, remarkable in its thoughtful approach to the diverse relationships between textual/oral storytelling practices and visual narratives (both material in the form of art and mentally generated as visions). To varying degrees, all of the essays explore fascinating aspects of these relationships. I anticipate that this book will be of great interest to all scholars of Buddhism (in India and beyond), which is a real contribution, as often art historical and textual specialists publish in different venues. Catherine Becker, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Art History, University of Illinois at Chicago This volume explores the intersection of Buddhist art and literature, and the complex ways that verbal and visual narratives engage one another. The result is a brilliant synthesis that is sure to appeal to a wide cross-section of scholars and will no doubt be cited many times in the years to come. Andy Rotman, Sydenham Clark Parsons Professor and Professor of Religion, Buddhist Studies, and South Asian Studies, Smith College
