Religious & Philosophical Storytelling Mediums

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By: Caterina Newman

I have decided to explore the various mediums in which philosophical and, by extension, religious storytelling manifests through space and time. Throughout the quarter, we have read great texts. The play Antigone by Sophocles, which was originally written on papyrus in the Ancient Greek language. Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, another assigned text, was an Arabic manuscript written on parchment (animal skin). Also, The Decameron Project: a collection of short stories uploaded to the internet, read on a screen with some accompanied by audio recordings. Most recently we read There There by Tommy Orange, and though it's a modern book, it relates to the Native American tradition of oral storytelling. I have chosen to explore storytelling mediums through the lens of Hayy Ibn Yaqzan’s content/theme: philosophy. The four texts I have chosen are philosophical and religious stories presented in differing forms throughout space and time. The four texts are Epic of Gilgamesh, Codex Vaticanus 3773, Bhagavata Purana, and The Tale of Genji. I have also included three additional mediums because while they are used to transmit philosophical and religious content, they are not considered “texts” which is a requirement for this final project.  

References:

Dr. Senta German, "Law Code Stele of King Hammurabi," in Smarthistory, August 8, 2015, accessed November 27, 2020, https://smarthistory.org/hammurabi/.

Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank, "Yaxchilán—Lintels 24 and 25 from Structure 23 and structures 33 and 40," in Smarthistory, April 9, 2016, accessed November 27, 2020, https://smarthistory.org/yaxchilan-lintels/.

Faksimiles, Ziereis. “Codex Vaticanus B (3773).” Ziereis Facsimiles, www.facsimiles.com/facsimiles/codex-vaticanus-b-3773. 

Gupta, Ravi M., and Kenneth R. Valpey. The Bhagavata Purana : Sacred Text and Living Tradition. Columbia University Press, 2013. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjbk&AN=edsjbk.gupt14998&site=eds-live.

Jarusawat, Piyapat. “Sustainable Preservation of Lanna Palm Leaf Manuscripts Based on Community Participation.” IAFOR Journal of Literature & Librarianship, vol. 9, no. 1, Summer 2020, pp. 22–38. EBSCOhost, doi:10.22492/ijl.9.1.01. 

McCormick, Melissa. The Tale of Genji: A Visual Companion. Princeton University Press, 2018. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvc7754r. Accessed 27 Nov. 2020.

Miller & Simon. Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya. 2004. Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco and Thames and Hudson. 

Reefe, Thomas Q. “Lukasa: A Luba Memory Device.” African Arts, vol. 4, no. 4, 1977, p. 48. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsmzh&AN=1978115698&site=eds-live.

Seler, Eduard, 1849-1922. Codex Vaticanus No. 3773 (Codex Vaticanus B). London, 1902. EBSCOhost,search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edshtl&AN=edshtl.MIU01.001445542&site=eds-live.

“Tablet: British Museum.” The British Museum, www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_K-3375. 

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Bhagavata-Purana, Encyclopædia Britannica, December 20, 2017, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bhagavata-purana

Weston, Heather. Concertina Binding, Chapter 6 Binding, BookCraft. 2008. Quarry Books. https://art2551.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/book_demo.pdf