RLMgB076 Buddhism and Film

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2024
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Luboš Bělka, CSc. (lecturer)
Mgr. Martin Špirk, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Luboš Bělka, CSc.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Kristýna Čižmářová
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 16:00–17:40 J21, except Tue 16. 4.
Prerequisites (in Czech)
! RLB76 Buddhism and Film
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 3/30, only registered: 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course deals with Euro-American fascination by "Tibet", "Buddhism" and generally speaking "Orient". Earlier in history, Tibet was seen in a rather negative context, mediated first of all by reports of Christian missionaries or by biased ideological interpretations. For today's "Western" view idealisation is typical, and it is represented in films, music and literature. In theory we can speak of the phenomenon of "Orientalism" in the reflection of Tibetan Buddhism, which is projected into films and novels. The course mainly deals with the analysis of these novels and films. After theoretical and methodological introduction selected films and novels are critically analysed (Lost Horizon, Kundun, Seven Years in Tibet, The Cup, Himalaya-Caravane, Little Buddha, Anna and the King etc.) At the end of this course, students should be able to interpret the "western image" of Tibetan Buddhism. Beside the so called "Hollywood" Buddhism the course focuses on the image of Buddhism in various documentary films as well as in film propaganda and anti-propaganda in connection with Buddhism.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
  • define the basic forms of the Western, but also Tibetan exile concept of Buddhism as reflected in films and documentaries;
  • describe basic works depicting "Hollywood" Buddhism or other Western-influenced production;
  • explain specific examples of different forms of film propaganda working with the theme of Tibetan Buddhism and identify whether documentaries/docu-dramas are propaganda or objectivist movies;
  • understand and apply in practice the theoretical and methodological tool of qualitative discourse analysis concerning documentary film or docu-drama;
  • present the results of her/his analyses in a format that meets the standards of a conference paper.
    • Syllabus
    • Introduction
    • Final discussion; test; evaluation of students works
    Literature
      required literature
    • SCHELL, Orville. Virtual Tibet :searching for Shangri-la from the Himalayas to Hollywood. 1st ed. New York: Metropolitan books, 2000, 340 s. ISBN 0-8050-4381-0. info
    • Fascinácia a (ne)poznanie: kultúrne strety Západu a Východu. Edited by Martin Slobodník - Gabriel Pirický. Vyd. 1. Bratislava: Chronos, 2003, 200 s. ISBN 8089027083. info
    • Qualitative discourse analysis in the social sciences. Edited by Ruth Wodak - Michał Krzyżanowski. First published. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, xi, 216. ISBN 0230019870. info
      recommended literature
    • Imagining Tibet : perceptions, projections, & fantasies. Edited by Thierry Dodin - Heinz Räther. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2001, xiii, 465. ISBN 0861711912. info
    • LOPEZ, Donald S. Prisoners of Shangri-La : Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998, x, 283. ISBN 0226493105. info
    • LENOIR, Frédéric. Setkávání buddhismu se západem. Vyd. 1. Praha: Volvox Globator, 2002, 334 s. ISBN 8072074962. info
    Teaching methods
    lectures, class discussions, reading of texts, homework
    Assessment methods
    Requirements for the colloquium:
  • active participation in class, home preparation in the form of reading texts and working with assigned audiovisual material (50% of the total course grade);
  • submission of an analytical academic text (approx. 1200 words), which should reflect a selected part of the documentary (25% of the total evaluation, to be submitted by the deadline);
  • presentation of the paper (about 10 minutes) at the final mini-conference, and active participation during the discussion (25% of the total evaluation).
    • Language of instruction
    Czech
    Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
    Study Materials
    Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo religionistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučujícího.
    Teacher's information
    For syllabus, tutorials and other materials, see Study Materials.
    The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020, Spring 2025.
    • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
    • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2024/RLMgB076