Silver Screen Buddha

Buddhism in Asian and Western Film

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Film, History & Criticism, Performing Arts, Religion & Spirituality, Eastern Religions, Buddhism
Cover of the book Silver Screen Buddha by Dr. Sharon A. Suh, Bloomsbury Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Dr. Sharon A. Suh ISBN: 9781474217842
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Publication: January 29, 2015
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic Language: English
Author: Dr. Sharon A. Suh
ISBN: 9781474217842
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication: January 29, 2015
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Language: English

How do contemporary films depict Buddhists and Buddhism? What aspects of the Buddhist tradition are these films keeping from our view? By repeatedly romanticizing the meditating monk, what kinds of Buddhisms and Buddhists are missing in these films and why?

Silver Screen Buddha is the first book to explore the intersecting representations of Buddhism, race, and gender in contemporary films. Sharon A. Suh examines the cinematic encounter with Buddhism that has flourished in Asia and in the West in the past century – from images of Shangri-La in Frank Capra's 1937 Lost Horizon to Kim Ki-Duk's 2003 international box office success Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring.

The book helps readers see that representations of Buddhism in Asia and in the West are fraught with political, gendered, and racist undertones. Silver Screen Buddha draws significant attention to ordinary lay Buddhism, a form of the tradition given little play in popular film. By uncovering the differences between a fictionalized, commodified, and exoticized Buddhism, Silver Screen Buddha brings to light expressions of the tradition that highlight laity and women, on the one hand, and Asian and Asian Americans, on the other. Suh engages in a re-visioning of Buddhism that expands the popular understanding of the tradition, moving from the dominance of meditating monks to the everyday world of raced, gendered, and embodied lay Buddhists.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

How do contemporary films depict Buddhists and Buddhism? What aspects of the Buddhist tradition are these films keeping from our view? By repeatedly romanticizing the meditating monk, what kinds of Buddhisms and Buddhists are missing in these films and why?

Silver Screen Buddha is the first book to explore the intersecting representations of Buddhism, race, and gender in contemporary films. Sharon A. Suh examines the cinematic encounter with Buddhism that has flourished in Asia and in the West in the past century – from images of Shangri-La in Frank Capra's 1937 Lost Horizon to Kim Ki-Duk's 2003 international box office success Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring.

The book helps readers see that representations of Buddhism in Asia and in the West are fraught with political, gendered, and racist undertones. Silver Screen Buddha draws significant attention to ordinary lay Buddhism, a form of the tradition given little play in popular film. By uncovering the differences between a fictionalized, commodified, and exoticized Buddhism, Silver Screen Buddha brings to light expressions of the tradition that highlight laity and women, on the one hand, and Asian and Asian Americans, on the other. Suh engages in a re-visioning of Buddhism that expands the popular understanding of the tradition, moving from the dominance of meditating monks to the everyday world of raced, gendered, and embodied lay Buddhists.

More books from Bloomsbury Publishing

Cover of the book The Life of the Senses by Dr. Sharon A. Suh
Cover of the book T&T Clark Companion to Liturgy by Dr. Sharon A. Suh
Cover of the book Tales from the Captain's Log by Dr. Sharon A. Suh
Cover of the book Leisured Resistance by Dr. Sharon A. Suh
Cover of the book Exposed by Dr. Sharon A. Suh
Cover of the book Corinth in Late Antiquity by Dr. Sharon A. Suh
Cover of the book Mediterranean Diasporas by Dr. Sharon A. Suh
Cover of the book American Civil War Armies (4) by Dr. Sharon A. Suh
Cover of the book As Green as Grass by Dr. Sharon A. Suh
Cover of the book Sex and Suits by Dr. Sharon A. Suh
Cover of the book Hollywood Bliss - My Life So Far by Dr. Sharon A. Suh
Cover of the book Aristotle by Dr. Sharon A. Suh
Cover of the book The Beast, the Emperor and the Milkman by Dr. Sharon A. Suh
Cover of the book Children of the Stone by Dr. Sharon A. Suh
Cover of the book The Speed of Light by Dr. Sharon A. Suh
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy