Thomas A. Tweed

Retelling U.S. religious history

Thomas A. Tweed, Introduction: Narrating U.S. Religious History Ann Taves, Sexuality in American Religious History Tamar Frankiel, Ritual Sites in the Narrative of American Religion Ann Braude, Womens History Is American Religious History Roger Finke, The Illusion of Shifting Demand: Supply-Side Interpretations of American Religious History Laurie F. Maffly-Kipp, Eastward Ho!: American Religion from the Perspective of the Pacific Rim Joel W. Martin, Indians, Contact and Colonialism in the Deep South: Themes for a Postcolonial History of American Religion William Westfall, Voices from the Attic: Crossing the Canadian Border and the Writing of American Religious History Catherine L. Albanese, Exchanging Selves, Exchanging Souls: Contact, Combination, and American Religious History

The American encounter with Buddhism, 1844-1912 : Victorian culture and the limits of dissent

This work examines 19th-century Americas encounter with one of the worlds major religions. Exploring the debates about Buddhism that followed upon its introduction to the USA, the author shows what happened when the transplanted religious movement came into contact with Americas established culture and fundamentally different Protestant tradition. The text, first published in 1992, traces the efforts of various American interpreters to make sense of Buddhism in Western terms. Tweed demonstrates that while many of those interested in Buddhism considered themselves dissenters from American culture, they did not abandon some of the basic values they shared with their fellow Victorians. In the end, the Victorian understanding of Buddhism, even for its most enthusiastic proponents, was significantly shaped by the prevailing culture. Although Buddhism attracted much attention, it ultimately failed to build enduring institutions or gain significant numbers of adherents in the 19th century. Not until the following century did a cultural environment more conducive to Buddhisms taking root in America develop. In a preface new to this paperback edition, Tweed addresses Buddhisms growing influence in contemporary American culture.

The American Encounter with Buddhism, 1844–1912: Victorian Culture and the Limits of Dissent, by Thomas A. Tweed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992, xxiv + 242 pp.

Forword by Catherine L. Albanese and Stephen J. Stein Acknowledgments A Note on Foreign Terms Introduction One OThe Seeming Anomaly of Buddhist NegationO: The American Conversation about Buddhism, 1844-1877, and the Contours of Mid-Victorian Culture Two OShall We All Become Buddhists?O: The Conversation and the Converts, 1879-1912 Three Esoterics, Rationalists, and Romantics: A Typology of Euro-American Buddhist Sympathizers and Adherents, 1875-1912 Four OWalking in FairylandO: BuddhismOs Appeal and Cultural Dissent Five Strolling Down Main Street: Cultural Consent and the Accessibility of Buddhism Six Optimism and Activism: Responses to Buddhism, Victorian Religious Culture, and the Limits of Dissent Postscript: Buddhism in America after 1912 Tables Notes Selected Bibliography Index