Bruno Shirley, "Religion, Gender, and Politics in Medieval Sri Lanka: The Reconstruction of Buddhist Kingship, ca. 1070-1215" (ARC Humanities Press, 2026)

About this episode

Dr. Bruno M. Shirley discusses his book on the intersection of religion, gender, and politics in medieval Sri Lanka.

Dr. Shirley's monograph, Religion, Gender, and Politics in Medieval Sri Lanka: The Reconstruction of Buddhist Kingship, ca. 1070-1215 (ARC Humanities Press, 2026), is now available open access, thanks to the generous support of the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation. This book offers a radical reconsideration of the Poḷon-naruva period, long understood to be a turning point in the history of Theravāda Buddhism. Histories of this period have been overwhelmingly based on a series of literary accounts written long after the fact. But by drawing on textual, inscriptional, numismatic, and material evidence from within the period itself, the book reveals how the intellectual and social histories of Buddhism, politics, and gender were inextricably intertwined in Poḷon-naruva. In particular, it argues that debates over what it meant to be a “good Buddhist king” were intrinsically debates about Buddhist masculinity and about the proper relationship of gender to power. Link to purchase/download the book here. Bruno M. Shirley is a lecturer in Buddhist Studies at Heidelberg University, Germany. He completed his MA in Religious Studies at Te Herenga Waka/Victoria University of Wellington, NZ…

People in this episode

Guest: Bruno M. Shirley

Topics covered

• Buddhism
• gender studies
• politics
• medieval history
• Sri Lanka
• kingship

Keywords

• Buddhist kingship
• Theravāda Buddhism
• gender
• politics
• medieval Sri Lanka
• masculinity
• historical evidence

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Heidelberg University, ARC Humanities Press, Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation

Books & works: Religion, Gender, and Politics in Medieval Sri Lanka: The Reconstruction of Buddhist Kingship

Places: Sri Lanka

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