Research

My current research is a continuation of my M.A. research, which explored Vaiśravaṇa’s iconography in the Vedic and Brahmanic pantheon as well as in early Indian and Japanese Buddhism. Based on a detailed analysis of the way the god is represented in primary literature and art, I focused on the question of how Vaiśravaṇa is depicted throughout history and how his image changed. In my present research, I am trying to integrate Vaiśravaṇa’s iconographic transformation into a wider context of meaning in order to enhance its importance from a religious and cultural scientific point of view. In this sense, my research is no longer interested in asking how the god is depicted but why he is depicted in a particular way, what conclusions can be drawn, and what factors might influence artistic work. Thus, the topic of the image’s context, its usage, and its meaning become the focus of attention. By taking the example of Vaiśravaṇa, my analysis of his ‘religious images’ is divided into two interlinked parts: the exemplary study of a transcultural iconographic transformation process as well as the analysis of the images’ context.

Trying to define a ‘religious image’ means dealing with the basic question of “What is a picture?” By discussing picture theoretical approaches, I realised that this question cannot be answered easily and, moreover, it is debated among the prevailing (semiotic, anthropological, and phenomenological) picture theories exponents. They all provide useful interpretations on partial aspects of the image, but cannot however define it profoundly. As a result, a new trend in interpreting art gained in importance in the last few years: a hermeneutical approach to pictures initiated by Max Imdahl’s “The Iconic.” There are two ways in which the hermeneutical approach of a picture is useful in regard to defining a religious image: (1) hermeneutics offer a more comprehensive approach, making use of semiotic and phenomenological paradigms alike while depicting both their advantages and disadvantages. At this point, it takes up its own considerations and focuses mainly on the artwork and its relation to the viewer. This is an important advantage for the investigation of a religious image, since categories like personal faith are more significant and, thus, issues about the different modes of gazing as well as the recipient’s active part while gazing at images should be dealt with. Moreover, hermeneutical approaches can be connected to David Morgan’s explanation of the gaze as well as to the research field of visual culture, offering a significant addition. (2) Another important momentum of picture hermeneutics is that it emphasises the special characteristics of visual phenomena (das nur Bildmögliche). While the main picture theories are trying to interpret images in regard to their special paradigms, hence risking a limited evaluation of picture phenomena, hermeneutics try to observe an artwork’s innermost structure in order to determine its significance. For that reason, hermeneutical approaches can be applied to images of any cultural milieu and can therefore avoid being too Eurocentric.

A second aspect of my research project is focused on the topic of the previously mentioned context of the image. Here, I am thinking of questions exceeding the immanent interpretation of an artwork. In regard to Vaiśravaṇa, I am talking about (1) cultural contact, inter- and intra-religious encounters, as well as transfer of culture and religion; and (2) socio-political, cultural, and historical developments. The importance of cultural contact and transfer of culture and religion becomes evident when we think of the history of Buddhism. Vaiśravaṇa is found within the pantheon of a religion that extended its sphere of influence over large parts of Asia. The deity originates from the Vedic-Brahmanic pantheon and is integrated into Buddhism at an early date. The earliest visual representations of the god come from the second century BCE. From India, Buddhism spreads to Central Asia and along the ancient silk roads to China in the Han period, as well as in Korea and Japan in the sixth century BCE. Thus, Vaiśravaṇa’s transfer from India to Japan covers a long period of time and geographical distance. On its way from India to East Asia, Buddhism encounters different cultural milieus, religions, and societies, all leaving their marks on this religious movement. The Buddhist religion that reaches Japan is not really Indian anymore, but an enhanced version with numerous Central Asian and especially Chinese elements. In order to study cultural contact as well as cultural and religious transfer, I analyse and make use of theoretical approaches from entangled history and histoire croisée that focus on the various exchange relationships between the objects of comparison. Those multi-perspective approaches emphasise the processual character of reception and influence. Encounters between different cultures, societies, and religions may be the cause of changes on different levels—e.g., the ritual, doctrinal, or iconographical level of a given religion. Further, art can affect the social construction of reality, as has already been pointed out Susanne Langer and Clifford Geertz. In his The Sacred Gaze David Morgan notes that “visual culture refers to the images and objects that deploy particular ways of seeing and therefore contribute to the social, intellectual, and perceptual construction of reality [...]” (2005: 27). Moreover he interprets ‘seeing’ as a social medium, by which “relations of power are arrayed and maintained among human beings” (Morgan 2012: 21). This aspect is especially true to Vaiśravaṇa, who becomes an important god at least in times of political struggle in China, Japan’s Nara period, and the Middle Ages. The issue of power and the images’ ability to affect culture places his image in a wider cultural and social context. Art reflects and changes its environment, being nevertheless influenced by socio-political, cultural, and historical development. In this regard, entangled history and cultural transfer theories provide some important ideas: Categories like “Self/Other” and the closely connected difference between inter- and intra-religious encounters, as well as the topic of ‘agents,’ allow us to deal in more detail with questions pertaining to socio-political, cultural, and historical developments that generate iconographical transformations.

This research project is examining the reconstruction of Vaiśravaṇa’s iconographical development by showing that it is not exclusively the result of religious factors. Additionally, theoretical approaches that may make a contribution to defining iconographical transformation processes are analysed and adapted to my research. I seek to illustrate how such a process can move forward and what conclusions can be drawn in regard to modifications in the involved religious systems as well as in terms of cultural contacts.