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Based on the theories of mediatization and performance in the public sphere, this working paper envisages a methodology that will frame the mediatazation of the Buddhist Sermon from radio to television.
Preaching and listening to sermons is widely practiced by Theravada Buddhists in Sri Lanka. The earliest Sinhala texts seem to have been recited rhythmically in the form of prose (Katha) or verse (Kavi). About the middle of the 19th century, ?Dharma Shala?, were built for congregational hearing of the Buddha?s teaching. About 1910 Ven. Palane Vajiragnana seems to have introduced a new type of preaching to the upcoming Sinhala urban elite. Lay preaching in English too seem to have started shortly after.
With the advent of gramophone records in the 1920s some sermons too were recorded and sold. Just four years after establishing Radio Ceylon in 1928, the first ?Dharma Deshana? broadcasted a sermon by Ven. Pelane Sri Vajiragnana Thero. Since then, sermons lasting 60 minutes were broadcasted in Sinhala having a defined structure.
With the introduction of television in 1982, it was possible to see the preaching monk seated in the studio, and today commercial television channels compete with each other in broadcasting sermons. With the advent of ?Buddhist? Channel the sermon broadcast is live and one is able to listen sermons many times a day now on TV and radio. In addition, sermons are available on audio cassette and CD in the open market and also new forms of preaching using ?Kavi? and ?Viridu? have been mediatized.
My research is not a critique on contemporary practice, but to pinpoint paradigm shifts in the process where ?bana? has morphed into a highly professionalized ?Dharma Deshana? in contemporary Sri Lanka. |
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