Ailani Sato-Lim L&S Arts & Humanities
Metaphors of Buddhist Modernism: How Buddhism Is Reframed in America
Buddhism has occupied the popular imagination in American society since the late 1800s. Yet in the crossover to the West, the discourse on Buddhist thought has been molded to suit modern US audiences, manifesting in a depiction of Buddhism as scientific, rational, and atheistic. Further, many metaphors from Christianity, Western science, and Romanticism were imposed onto English-language interpretations of Buddhist works.
My project will use cognitive linguistics to examine the interaction of conceptual metaphors between Buddhist and Western discourse that occurred in the assimilation of Buddhism in the US. How did this lead to the suppression of certain metaphoric frames from the ‘original’ tradition and to the introduction of new frames consonant with US culture? By analyzing English-language works on Zen Buddhism, I will trace how they affect American Buddhists’ engagement with the tradition and question why some frames were preferred over others.
Message To Sponsor
I am incredibly grateful for the support that Leadership provided me in order to do research over the summer. This opportunity gave me the confidence in creating and conducting my own research (that I didn't know would be interesting to others as well). This summer allowed me to genuinely cross academic disciplines (between religious studies, cognitive science, and linguistics) and let my creativity blossom - something that I was beginning to see as stifled in a myopic and pigeonholed academic environment. I feel that I am much more prepared to apply for graduate school with this under my belt, which I appreciate immensely. Thank you so much.