Guest Lecture | Prof. Ward Keeler (University of Texas): “Masculinity, Autonomy and Attachment in Buddhist Burma”
Tuesday, 3 December, 2013, KGI, room 1016, 6.15 – 7.45 pm
Abstract:
Taking religious discourse and practices as commentary (witting or unwitting) on social relations, I see in the institution of the monkhood in Burma an idealized rendering of how people, and especially, males should enter into relations with others. Specifically, Burmese males should seek to maximize their autonomy. So whereas in many societies, masculinity implies sexual athleticism and the exercise of power, in Buddhist Burma withdrawing from attachments wins individuals special prestige. Monks instantiate this idealized pattern particularly effectively, at least in theory.