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Book: A Buddhist Theory of Semiotics

Jun 27

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Title: A Buddhist Theory of Semiotics
Subtitle: Signs, Ontology, and Salvation in Japanese Esoteric Buddhism
Series Title: Bloomsbury Advances in Semiotics

Publication Year: 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing (formerly The Continuum International Publishing Group)
http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/

Book URL: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/a-buddhist-theory-of-semiotics-9781441161963/

Author: Fabio Rambelli

Hardback: ISBN: 9781441177773 Pages: 280 Price: U.K. £ 85.00
Paperback: ISBN: 9781441161963 Pages: 280 Price: U.K. £ 27.99

Abstract:

One of the first attempts ever to present in a systematic way a non-western
semiotic system. This book looks at Japanese esoteric Buddhism and is based
around original texts, informed by explicit and rigorous semiotic categories.
It is a unique introduction to important aspects of the thought and rituals of
the Japanese Shingon tradition.

Semiotic concerns are deeply ingrained in the Buddhist intellectual and
religious discourse, beginning with the idea that the world is not what it
appears to be, which calls for a more accurate understanding of the self and
reality. This in turn results in sustained discussions on the status of
language and representations, and on the possibility and methods to know
reality beyond delusion; such peculiar knowledge is explicitly defined as
enlightenment. Thus, for Buddhism, semiotics is directly relevant to
salvation; this is a key point that is often ignored even by Buddhologists.
This book discusses in depth the main elements of Buddhist semiotics as based
primarily on original Japanese pre-modern sources. It is a crucial publication
in the fields of semiotics and religious studies.