Jataka Stories in Theravada Buddhism - Narrating the Bodhisatta Path

Jataka stories (stories about the previous births of the Buddha) are very popular in Theravada Buddhist countries, where they are commonly used in sermons, children's books, plays, poetry, temple illustrations, rituals and festivals. Buddhist tradition tells us that the stories illustrate the gradual path to perfection exemplified by the Buddha in his previous births, when he was a bodhisatta (buddha-to-be). This book explores the shifting role of the stories in Buddhist doctrine, practice, and creative expression, finally placing this integral Buddhist genre back in the centre of scholarly understandings of the religion.

List of contents

Chapter 1 What is a J?taka?; Chapter 2 The Bodhisatta in J?taka Stories; Chapter 3 The Creation of a J?taka Genre; Chapter 4 Generic Conventions Embraced and Ignored; Chapter 5 J?takas and Buddhology; Chapter 6 J?takas and Biography; Chapter 7 J?taka Ideology in Practice; Chapter 8 The Perfection of Storytelling;

About the author

Naomi Appleton is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the Centre for the History of Religion in Asia, Cardiff University, Wales. She began her studies of Buddhist birth stories as an undergraduate, and has pursued this area of research since that time, producing two theses (M.Phil. Cardiff, 2004 and D.Phil. Oxford, 2008) as well as several articles. She is now beginning a new project funded by the British Academy into the uses of birth stories in Buddhist and Jain literature.

Product details

• Authors: Naomi Appleton
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 09.09.2016
• EAN: 9781138273658
• ISBN: 978-1-138-27365-8
• No. of pages: 186
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; LITERARY CRITICISM / General, RELIGION / Buddhism / General, Buddhism, Literature: history & criticism, Literature: history and criticism, Other non-Christian religions, Other religions and spiritual beliefs