Lexington Books
Pages: 280
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9½
978-1-4985-5229-5 • Hardback • October 2017 • $129.00 • (£99.00)
978-1-4985-5230-1 • eBook • October 2017 • $122.50 • (£95.00)
Paul G. Hackett received his Ph.D. in religion and has taught at Columbia University.
Foreword
David Gordon White
Editor's Preface
Paul G. Hackett
Acknowledgements
Preliminary Notes
Part I: Theatre and Film
Introduction
Ken Derry
1. The Yogi, the Prince, and the Courtesan: Izéÿl in Europe and America
Samuel Thévoz
2. Supermen, Mystical Women, and Oriental Others: Dynamics of Race and Gender in Pop Cultural Yogis and the Universal Superhuman
Anya P. Foxen
3. From the Razor's Edge to the Scalpel's Blade: Larry Darrell, Doctor Strange, and the Trope of the Rehabilitated Western Man as Yogi
Paul G. Hackett
Part II: Television and Serials
Introduction
Jane Naomi Iwamura and Paul G. Hackett
4. “I’ll See You Again in Twenty-Five Years:” Tibetan Buddhism in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks and American Pop Culture in the 90s
Adam C. Krug
5. The Future is Not What it Used To Be: Religion, Yogic Power, and Tibet in Star Trek and Doctor Who
Paul G. Hackett
6. The Blank Scriptures of the Xiyou ji: Interpretive Flexibility and Religious Stability in Post-1949 Adaptations of The Journey to the West
Nathan Faries and Yuanfei Wang
Part III: Comic Books and Graphic Novels
Introduction
A. David Lewis
7. The Spiritual Superhero: A Historical Overview of Tantra in Comics
Albion M. Butters
8. The Implied Spider-Man: Transcreating Religious Imagery and Meaning in Spider-Man: India
Rex Barnes
9. The Dark Knight of the Soul: Death as Initiatory Ordeal in Grant Morrison’s Batman R.I.P.
Joel Bordeaux
Afterword
Paul G. Hackett
Inspired by the richness of discussion and insight in each chapter, even non-experts of comparative religions or non-fans of these pop-cultural icons will find interesting the insights provided into various streams of traditional religious practices and identities from exotically-othered parts of Asia which have historically played a role in shaping popular representations of Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, various strands of Hinduism—particularly Tantra—and how these continue to be borrowed, appropriated, misrepresented, filtered, or woven into the practices and imaginary fabric of global popular culture.
— Reading Religion
This volume explores the hitherto-unrecognized complexity of the earliest connections between the Euro-American world and the cultures of Asia. With carefully constructed and nuanced historical case studies, we see how the beliefs and practices of various Asian religions were imported, adopted, and at times twisted to fit into expressions of Western culture. These include new spiritual movements, performing arts, and literature. This skillfully-compiled and broad collection of essays adds completely new examples of the phenomenon of Orientalism in context; the detail and insights found here are sure to interest a broad audience as well as inspire further explorations of this fascinating phenomenon.
— Todd T. Lewis, College of the Holy Cross
Here is a brilliant collection detailing the pretzel logic of yoga in popular culture. It demonstrates how pervasive and deep Asian religions and spiritualities permeate the West’s best, even super-heroic, imaginings of itself.
— Rudy V. Busto, University of California, Santa Barbara
Here is a brilliant collection detailing the pretzel logic of yoga in popular culture. It demonstrates how pervasive and deep Asian religions and spiritualities permeate the West’s best, even super-heroic, imaginings of itself.
— Rudy V. Busto, University of California, Santa Barbara