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Hualin International Journal of Buddhist Studies 8.1 (2025): 61–92; https://dx.doi.org/10.15239/hijbs.08.01.03
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Asia-European Exchanges Mediated through Buddhism, Buddhism and Medicine: New Perspectives)
The Complexities of Orientalism: William Knighton and His Representation of Buddhism
Elizabeth J. HARRIS
University of Birmingham
e.harris.2@bham.ac.uk
Abstract: This paper examines the complexities within Orientalism through the case study of William Knighton (1823–1900) and his representation of Buddhism. It first surveys what is known of Knighton’s life and his literary achievements, emphasizing his use of fictional autobiographies to convey his views about religion and colonialism. It then examines his writings on Buddhism and the data on which he drew. This part argues that Knighton’s representation of Buddhism was positive and modernist, at a time when other westerners were either dismissing the religion or attempting to undermine it. Lastly, the paper focusses on why his life and writings are important within the study of religious exchange between Asia and Europe in the nineteenth century, and the transmission of Buddhism to the west. Four elements are isolated: the early date at which Knighton was offering a modernist view of Buddhism; the contrasts that can be drawn between his representation of Buddhism and those of his contemporaries; the importance Knighton gave to dialogue with Buddhists and their agency; and his promotion of Buddhist exceptionalism. The paper concludes with reflections on the inconsistencies within Knighton’s work and the all-too-human processes through which Buddhism was transmitted to the west.
Keywords: Orientalism, Buddhism, William Knighton, decolonization, Sri Lanka, India, the transmission of Buddhism to the west
About the Author: Elizabeth J. Harris is an honorary senior research fellow within the Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public Understanding of Religion at the University of Birmingham, UK. Before retirement she was an Associate Professor in Religious Studies, specialising in Buddhist Studies, at Liverpool Hope University. She is currently President of the UK Association for Buddhist Studies and an International Adviser to the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies. Her publications include: Theravada Buddhism and the British Encounter: Religious, missionary and colonial encounter in nineteenth century Sri Lanka (Routledge 2006) and Religion, Space and Conflict in Sri Lanka: colonial and postcolonial contexts (Routledge 2018). With John L. Crow she has co-written a biography of Allan Bennett/ Ananda Metteyya, one of the first British people to be ordained as a Buddhist monk (Equinox 2025).
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
