The Greatest Movie Never Made: The Life of the Buddha as Cold War Politics

IF 0.3 3区 哲学 Q2 HISTORY RELIGION AND AMERICAN CULTURE-A JOURNAL OF INTERPRETATION Pub Date : 2020-01-01 DOI:10.1017/rac.2020.14
Laura Harrington
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Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores the backstory of a 1953 screenplay on the life of the Buddha conceived by the CIA as a psychological warfare strategy to draw Asian Buddhists away from the Communist orbit and into the Free World. Developed in collaboration with Ceylonese Buddhist scholar G. P. Malalasekera, Tathagata: The Wayfarer (hereafter, Wayfarer) is best read through the lens of the U.S. Campaign of Truth propaganda effort launched by Truman in 1950. I draw on declassified government documents and archives to highlight the screenplay's trajectory as a covert attempt by the U.S. government to work with Asian Buddhists to further U.S. foreign policy needs in Asia and to demonstrate a truth rarely recognized by scholars of religion and American culture: For the early Cold War American state, Buddhism was an object of foreign policy.
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史上最伟大的电影:作为冷战政治的佛的一生
本文探讨了1953年一部关于佛陀生平的电影剧本的背景故事,这部电影被美国中央情报局(CIA)构思为一种心理战策略,目的是将亚洲佛教徒从共产主义轨道吸引到自由世界。与锡兰佛教学者g.p. Malalasekera合作编写的《如来:旅人》(以下简称《旅人》)最好是通过杜鲁门于1950年发起的美国真相宣传运动的镜头来阅读。我利用解密的政府文件和档案来强调剧本的轨迹,即美国政府秘密尝试与亚洲佛教徒合作,以进一步推动美国在亚洲的外交政策需求,并展示宗教和美国文化学者很少认识到的事实:对于冷战早期的美国国家来说,佛教是外交政策的对象。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
0.40
自引率
25.00%
发文量
7
期刊介绍: Religion and American Culture is devoted to promoting the ongoing scholarly discussion of the nature, terms, and dynamics of religion in America. Embracing a diversity of methodological approaches and theoretical perspectives, this semiannual publication explores the interplay between religion and other spheres of American culture. Although concentrated on specific topics, articles illuminate larger patterns, implications, or contexts of American life. Edited by Philip Goff, Stephen Stein, and Peter Thuesen.
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