Shin Buddhism as Disability Rhetoric
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Authors
Gorelangton, Galen
Issue Date
2025
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Buddhism , Disability , Jodo Shinshu , Listening , Rhetoric , Shin Buddhism
Alternative Title
Abstract
In this dissertation, I apply my theory of Shin Buddhism as disability rhetoric to a variety of texts within the greater corpus of Shin literature, focusing especially on The Collected Works of Shinran. This dissertation is conceptually structured around four major themes: vulnerability, metis, deep hearing, and naturalness. These four themes are the guiding threads which wend their way through the chapters of this text. In Chapter 1, I first exhibit the historical trajectory of disability rhetoric as it was employed and developed by the Seven Pure Land Masters and Shinran Shonin. After that, I explore three important Shin Buddhist topoi: dependence, spatiality, and temporality. In Chapter 2, I explore the core Shin Buddhist practice of deep hearing and conceptualize it as a sacred form of disabled rhetorical listening. In Chapter 3, I provide a rhetorical analysis of Hisako Nakamura’s autobiography, The Hands and Feet of the Heart. I use this exploration to better theorize Shin Buddhist rhetorics of touch. In Chapter 4, I provide a rhetorical analysis of Manshi Kiyozawa’s life and essays. Doing so allows me to better theorize Shin Buddhist rhetorics of failure. Finally, in Chapter 5, I explore the Shin Buddhist end-times rhetoric of mappo (the final dharma age) to conceptualize Shin Buddhism in terms of “eschatological disability.” I conceptually link this mode of rhetoric to the current breakdown of contemporary world orders, suggesting some possibilities for new beginnings. Ultimately, I find that Shin Buddhist disability rhetoric results in a reconstitution of human subjectivity characterized by greater affective sensitivity, intuitive wisdom, and psychological flexibility, all of which allows subjects to navigate precarious rhetorical and life situations with naturalness and spiritual buoyancy. In this way, Shin Buddhist disability rhetoric offers tools, techniques, and new ways of being that can help us all (disabled or not) to flourish during times of crisis and uncertainty.