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Reading the Mahāvamsa advocates a new, literary approach to this text by revealing its embedded reading advice (to experience samvega and pasada) and affective work of metaphors (the Buddha's dharma as light) and salient characters (nagas).
John S. Strong, author of Buddhisms: An Introduction:Scheible views the Mahavamsa as a piece of religious literature, in contrast to other scholars who have generally seen it through a historian's lens, or who have read it from a political or ethnic perspective as something intended to bolster notions of kingship and Sinhalese nationalism. Clearly written, solidly grounded in Buddhist scholarship, well attuned to theory in the fields of history, literature, and religion, and just plain insightful, this book is inspiring not only for what it has to say about an important Sri Lankan Buddhist text but more generally for our study of Buddhist literature as a whole.
Maria Heim, author of The Forerunner of All Things: Buddhaghosa on Mind, Intention, and Agency:This is a fresh look at the Mahavamsa. Showing how imaginative practices of narratives—shape-shifting nagas, the imagery of light, and the veneration of relics—have shaped Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Kristin Scheible demonstrates that the Mahavamsa sought to construct and inspire a community of readers by prompting an aesthetic and religious response. Her literary sensibility illuminates this perceptive study.
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