The Relationship of Buddhist Studies and Area Studies: New Perspectives from Humanities Computing

佛學研究和區域研究的關係－－從人文科學電腦應用而來的新觀點

David Germano

《中華佛學學報》 20期 (2007/07) Pp. 331-348

https://doi.org/10.6986/CHBJ.200707.0331

摘要

一場學院的靜默革命正在數位圖書館的新科技和人文科學電腦應用的溶爐內生成，在過去五十年內轄管高等學院思維的知識與社區間的根本關係正被前所未有地挑戰，在人文科學的研究、出版與教學，這新氣象帶動合作模式、跨科際向度、學生的主動閱讀、國際化、走向公眾與出版的重大轉化。對佛學研究而言，這些新發展使人特別感興趣的地方正使宗教研究與適切於該宗教的區域研究朝向一個相當激烈的融匯。我的論文將以西藏與喜馬拉雅數位圖書館（Tibetan and Himalayan DigitalLibrary, THDL, http://www.thdl.org）作測試個案，討論這些新發展。我將主要探討 THDL 裡關於西藏佛教的四個互相環扣的創見性項目。第一是西藏寺院專案，它對寺院作詳盡測量，同時對一小部份寺院採用深入的投入式研究；第二個項目將以視聽技術記錄口傳傳統中的文學、歷史、地點及其他很多的內容；第三個項目是西藏佛教文獻專案，它將結合深入的編目與廣泛標記了的文獻電子版，其中包括著名的甘珠爾及丹珠爾；第四就是把牛津大辭典的編修方法應用到內容豐富的藏語歷史辭典的詞匯條目解釋上。透過討論這些項目和它們與研究及出版的關係，我將提出隨著人文科學電腦應用和數位圖書館而來的學院的性質轉變的更廣泛議題，我將以西藏作測試個案，討論區域研究和佛學研究的關係，並勾劃新科技使我們重新面對這關係的性質與重要性的方式。

關鍵字

人文資訊學 ； 西藏學 ； 西藏喜馬拉雅數位圖書館(THDL)

並列摘要

A quiet revolution is brewing in the Academy in the cauldron of new digital library technologies and the field of humanities computing. The fundamental relationship between knowledge and community that has governed colleges and universities over the past five decades is being challenged in unprecedented ways. In humanities research, publication, and teaching, this involves major transformations in the areas of collaboration, interdisciplinary approaches, active student reading, internationalization, public outreach, and publication. Particularly interesting for the field of Buddhist Studies is the way in which such developments are enabling a much more radical convergence of religious studies with the broader field of area studies relevant for the study of a particular religion. My paper will use the Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library (www.thdl.org) as a test case to discuss these new developments. I will focus on four interlinked initiatives within THDL concerning Tibetan Buddhism. First, the Tibetan monasteries project involves the detailed survey of monasteries combined with rich immersive models of a small set of monasteries. Second, the audio-video initiative is documenting oral traditions concerning literature, history, places, and much else. Third, the Tibetan Buddhist Literature project involves the integration of deep cataloging with extensively marked up e-editions, including the famed Kangyur and Tengyur. Fourth, the rich historical Tibetan dictionary project is documenting terminology based upon the OED's approach. Through discussing these projects and their relationship to research and publication, I will raise broader issues of the changing nature of the academy with the rise of humanities computing and digital libraries. In particular, I will use the test case of Tibet to discuss the relationship of area studies and Buddhist studies, and outline the way in which new technologies are enabling us to readdress the nature and importance of that relationship.

並列關鍵字

Humanities Computing ； Tibetan Studies ； Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library (THDL)