HELL IN EAST ASIAN CULTURE

Whereas many in the modern West may commonly associate heavens and hells with the traditions of Christianity and Islam, Buddhist Asia shares an equally extensive concern with the paradises and punishments of the afterlife. Indian Buddhist scriptures, and their translations and elaborations across Asia, celebrate an infernal cosmology that makes Dante’s opus seem like a Hallmark card by comparison. This seminar focuses particularly on hells in the East Asian imaginary with the occasional detour to Southeast Asia, India, or Tibet for purposes of comparison. Our analysis of the practices, discourses, and representations of hells in East Asia is designed to coincide with a major exhibition on Asian Hells at Asia Society NY (Sept-Dec 2020). In this seminar we will view the exhibition together and each student will discuss an object on view, which they will have selected and prepared for in advance. Each student will work on a seminar project (usually, but not necessarily, an academic research paper) throughout the second half of the seminar. Proposal, bibliography, preliminary draft(s), and presentation will be due in stages during the process and students will receive feedback at each stage before the final draft is due at the beginning of final exam period. This course is designed for graduate students and advanced undergraduates who are expected to have completed coursework in relevant areas of East Asian Studies, Religion, or Art History.