This module will provide a critical overview of the ways in which accounts of the life of the Buddha have been a resource for the fashioning of religious and political identities in South Asia and beyond. The module will consider the primary source materials available for the study of the life of the Buddha and different ways in which these materials have been interpreted by academics: as sources of historical data, as evidence of the shaping ideals of the early Buddhist community and as narratives connected to broader social, political and philosophical debates in South Asia and beyond. The module will provide a broad examination of the conventions and functions of biography in relation to scriptural, inscriptional, and visual evidence in the history of Buddhist traditions. In particular, it will look at the ways in which the construction and re-construction of the life of the Buddha can give us clues concerning changing patterns of historical, political and religious consciousness amongst Buddhists both within, and beyond, South Asia. The module will also look at the modern (19th, 20th century) reception of the Buddha’s biography in popular literature, film and manga.

• discuss and to contextualize some of the key concepts in Buddhist Traditions in their sources with a basic historical framework for the study of  Buddhist Traditions.
• to have a sound knowledge some of the core primary source literature (in translation) for the life of the Buddha. 
• to understand the ways in which accounts of the life of the Buddha have been transformed and adapted in a variety of different historical and geographical contexts through a variety of media.
• to consider common themes in the study of narratives of the life of the Buddha (such as continuity and change in their historical development, the negotiation of group identities, issues of gender and power).
• to understand the particular role of narratives of significant or founding religious figures in the transmission and negotiation of social norms and ideologies. 

The module will be delivered in lecture and seminar format. The lecture parts will be used to cover the basic data, theoretical perspectives on that data and the various methodological orientations to the gathering and processing of data. The seminar parts will provide an opportunity for discussion and reflection on module content.

Academic skills:

-       Develop a critical awareness of historical development of the biographies of religious figures

-       Understand the value of primary sources for the study of religious biography

-       Engage with primary sources of different kinds

-       Extract sound and solid knowledge from sources (interpretational / hermeneutical skills)

-       Critically assess secondary sources 

Subject-specific skills:

-       Develop an understanding of the formation of Buddhism as a religion

-       Identify key issues in the study of historical religious key figures

-       Understand the different types of religious traditions in their historical origin and development 

Generic skills:

-       Organisation of time and short-term and middle-term tasks (preparation for lectures, writing of an essay)

-       Independent research on a topic

-       Critical academic awareness

-       Oral and written skills of discussion and writing

The module will be assessed by means of:

(1) an examination of 1.5 hours (worth 50% of the final module mark)

(2) an essay of 2,000 words on a chosen topic negotiated with the module tutor (worth 50% of the final module mark)

-       Introduction to the biography of the Buddha

-       Sources for the Buddha biography (textual, art historical)

-       Historicity of the Buddha, general and more specifically the scholarly debate of his dates

-       Historical and archaeological traces and sites

-       How to read and interpret episodes from the Life of the Buddha in different textual versions

-       Reception history of Buddhism and the Life of the Buddha in 19^th and early 20^th century in the West and its repercussions on traditional Buddhist cultures

-       Modern sources: poems, manga, movies – how to they represent the Buddha

Please see Background Reading List for an indicative list.

Basic Readings on Buddhism:

Bechert, Heinz & Richard Gombrich (1991), The World of Buddhism, London: Thames & Hudson.

Boisselier, Jean (1994), The Wisdom of the Buddha, London: Thames & Hudson

Corless, Roger J. (1989), The Vision of Buddhism, St Paul: Paragon House.

Keown, Damien (1996), A Very Short Introduction to Buddhism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Gethin, Rupert (1998), The Doctrinal Foundations of Buddhism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Skilton, Andrew (1994, 1997), A Concise History of Buddhism, Birmingham: Windhorse Press.

Strong, John S. (2008), The Experience of Buddhism: Sources and Interpretations, 3^rd edition, Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Harvey, Peter (1990), An Introduction to Buddhism. Teachings, History and Practices, 2^nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Readings on the Life of the Buddha:

Bechert, Heinz (ed.) (1995), When Did the Buddha Live? The Controversy on the Dating of the Historical Buddha (Selected Papers Based on a Symposium Held under the Auspices of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen), Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications.

Foucher, Alfred (1963), The Life of the Buddha according to the Ancient Texts and Monuments of India (Abridged Translation by Simone Brangier Boas), Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press.

Nakamura, Hajime (2000), Gotama Buddha. A Biography Based on the Most Reliable Texts, Volume One, Tokyo: Tokyo Publishing.

Nakamura, Hajime (2005), Gotama Buddha. A Biography Based on the Most Reliable Texts, Volume Two, Tokyo: Tokyo Publishing.

Penner, Hans H. (2009), Rediscovering the Buddha Legends of the Buddha and Their Interpretation, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.

Pye, Michael (1979), The Buddha, London: Duckworth.

Schumann, Hans-Wolfgang (1989), The Historical Buddha. The Times, Life and Teachings of the Founder of Buddhism, London: Arkana.

Strong, John S. (2001), The Buddha. A Short Biography, Oxford: Oneworld.

Tarthang Tulku (ed.) (1994), Holy Places of the Buddha, Berkeley (Crystal Mirror Series 9)

Thomas, Edward J. (1949), The Life of Buddha as Legend and History, ³London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.