Representation and Reaction: Modern Buddhist Nuns through the Lens of Mass Media

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel

Abstract

Traditionally, Buddhist nuns are perceived as living in seclusion from secular society. Compared with their male counterparts, nuns tend to be less exposed to mass media. Ironically, this tendency attracts a curious gaze from the outside world.

The remarkable development of print, audio-visual, and electronic communication technology in the twentieth century, however, has brought significant changes in the dynamics of interaction between Buddhist nuns and society at large. While nuns are slowly adapting to the new modes of dialogue, their popular image still suffers from misconceptions and prejudices.

This panel, consisting of four speakers and one discussant, investigates the complex relationship between Buddhist nuns and mass media from the 1920’s to the present time. Elise DeVido’s “Changing Perceptions of Buddhist Nuns in Republican China (1920-1949)” analyzes the depictions of Buddhist nuns in secular press in relation to the changing society of early twentieth-century China. Wei-Yi Cheng’s “Social Media and the Image of the Buddhist Nuns” revisits a recent controversy on Tzu Chi and Chao Hwei in Taiwan. In her paper, “The Thai Sangha’s Attitude toward Bhikkhuni Ordination,” Tomomi Ito tackles a media play by senior monks in their attempt to control the thorny issue of full ordination for Theravada nuns. Hyangsoon Yi’s “The Voyeuristic Camera in Mountain Nunnery” examines celluloid nunhood in the Korean Buddhist film genre. Some issues the panelists will discuss include the following: the salient traits of nuns’ media imagery; socio-historical contexts and media-specific environments that gave rise to the gendered and sexualized discourse on female monastics; and the nuns’ own reactions to their problematic portrayals.

Area of Study

• Interarea-Border Crossing

Session Organizer

• Hyangsoon Yi, University of Georgia

Chair

• Hyangsoon Yi, University of Georgia

Individual Presentations

• Changing Perceptions of Buddhist Nuns in Republican China (1920-1949) - Elise Anne DeVido, Duke Kunshan University

• Social Media and the Image of Buddhist Nuns: The Controversy over the Tzu Chi Debate in 2015 - Wei-Yi Cheng, Fo Guang University

• The Thai Sangha’s Attitude toward Bhikkhuni Ordination: Expressions in the Buddhist Public Sphere - Tomomi Ito, Kobe University

• The Voyeuristic Camera in Mountain Nunnery: The Buddhist Nun in Korean Film - Hyangsoon Yi, University of Georgia

Discussant

• Songok Chu, Nungin University of Buddhism