Alastair Gornall
Biographic Data
| ID | 700808 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alastair Gornall |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alastair |
| FAMILY NAME | Gornall |
| SIGNATURE | GORNALL A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Singapore University of Technology and Design |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5366-5538 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 7 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 9 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Spirits of Air and Goblins Damned
Scholarship in Buddhist Studies, particularly among philologists and philosophers, often overlooks cosmology, karma, and rebirth. This neglect is a legacy of a deep and long-standing anti-metaphysical spirit that pervades the empirical and philosophical frameworks employed in the discipline. This study engages in a philological close reading of four manuscripts of an unedited and untranslated Pali commentary on the Cha-gati-dīpanī “Light on the S…
Toward a History of Theravada Cosmological Literature
In European-language research on Theravada Buddhism, it is sometimes noted with regret that, so far, there are few systematic studies or histories of Theravada cosmology. In addition, the accounts of Theravada cosmology that exist are largely based on only a selective reading of the tradition’s earliest literature. This is particularly remarkable since monastic intellectuals in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia have produced a considerable body of tra…
Pali and Monastic Reform
This response acknowledges Ananda Abeysekara's review of Rewriting Buddhism: Pali Literature and Monastic Reform in Sri Lanka, 1157-1270, and expresses openness to reflecting on the analytical vocabulary Abeysekara found problematic. It also expands and clarifies the book's criticisms of prevailing views on medieval monastic reform in Sri Lanka and their relationship with monastic literary production
Digital Humanities Inside Out
This article explores the pedagogical challenges and opportunities of bringing the Digital Humanities into a STEM-orientated and Singaporean educational context. Teaching DH from the inside out — to computer scientists rather than humanists — has allowed us to see more clearly neglected areas of DH pedagogy that are in need of greater attention. Our experiences have shown us that if DH is to thrive as a field beyond traditional humanities departm…
Rewriting Buddhism
Rewriting Buddhism is the first intellectual history of premodern Sri Lanka’s most culturally productive period. This era of reform (1157–1270) shaped the nature of Theravada Buddhism both in Sri Lanka and also Southeast Asia and even today continues to define monastic intellectual life in the region. Alastair Gornall argues that the long century’s literary productivity was not born of political stability, as is often thought, but rather of the s…
Beautifully moral
Ratnamati et ses œuvres
Gornall Alastair. Ratnamati et ses œuvres : Dragomir Dimitrov, The Legacy of the Jewel Mind. On the Sanskrit, Pali, and Sinhalese Works by Ratnamati. A Philological Chronicle (Phullalocanavaṃsa), Naples, Università degli studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”, Dipartimento Asia Africa e Mediterraneo (Series Minor, LXXXII), 2016. In: Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient. Tome 103, 2017. pp. 475-491
Fame and Philology
This article investigates some of the methods and motivations that underpinned the earliest scholarship in Pāli and Buddhist Studies in Britain, focusing in particular on the works of R.C. Childers (1838–1876) and his correspondence with T.W. Rhys Davids (1843–1922). I explore the variety of actors that helped inform, shape and publish R.C. Childers' scholarship, while also taking into account the reception of his work, its political significance…
Puṣpikā
How Many Sounds are in Pāli
Rewriting Buddhism
Rewriting Buddhism is the first intellectual history of premodern Sri Lanka’s most culturally productive period. This era of reform (1157–1270) shaped the nature of Theravada Buddhism both in Sri Lanka and also Southeast Asia and even today continues to define monastic intellectual life in the region. Alastair Gornall argues that the long century’s literary productivity was not born of political stability, as is often thought, but rather of the s…
Ratnamati et ses œuvres
Gornall Alastair. Ratnamati et ses œuvres : Dragomir Dimitrov, The Legacy of the Jewel Mind. On the Sanskrit, Pali, and Sinhalese Works by Ratnamati. A Philological Chronicle (Phullalocanavaṃsa), Naples, Università degli studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”, Dipartimento Asia Africa e Mediterraneo (Series Minor, LXXXII), 2016. In: Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient. Tome 103, 2017. pp. 475-491
How Many Sounds are in Pāli
Puṣpikā
How Many Sounds are in Pāli
Fame and Philology
This article investigates some of the methods and motivations that underpinned the earliest scholarship in Pāli and Buddhist Studies in Britain, focusing in particular on the works of R.C. Childers (1838–1876) and his correspondence with T.W. Rhys Davids (1843–1922). I explore the variety of actors that helped inform, shape and publish R.C. Childers' scholarship, while also taking into account the reception of his work, its political significance…
Beautifully moral
Ratnamati et ses œuvres
Gornall Alastair. Ratnamati et ses œuvres : Dragomir Dimitrov, The Legacy of the Jewel Mind. On the Sanskrit, Pali, and Sinhalese Works by Ratnamati. A Philological Chronicle (Phullalocanavaṃsa), Naples, Università degli studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”, Dipartimento Asia Africa e Mediterraneo (Series Minor, LXXXII), 2016. In: Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient. Tome 103, 2017. pp. 475-491
Rewriting Buddhism
Rewriting Buddhism is the first intellectual history of premodern Sri Lanka’s most culturally productive period. This era of reform (1157–1270) shaped the nature of Theravada Buddhism both in Sri Lanka and also Southeast Asia and even today continues to define monastic intellectual life in the region. Alastair Gornall argues that the long century’s literary productivity was not born of political stability, as is often thought, but rather of the s…
Digital Humanities Inside Out
This article explores the pedagogical challenges and opportunities of bringing the Digital Humanities into a STEM-orientated and Singaporean educational context. Teaching DH from the inside out — to computer scientists rather than humanists — has allowed us to see more clearly neglected areas of DH pedagogy that are in need of greater attention. Our experiences have shown us that if DH is to thrive as a field beyond traditional humanities departm…
Pali and Monastic Reform
This response acknowledges Ananda Abeysekara's review of Rewriting Buddhism: Pali Literature and Monastic Reform in Sri Lanka, 1157-1270, and expresses openness to reflecting on the analytical vocabulary Abeysekara found problematic. It also expands and clarifies the book's criticisms of prevailing views on medieval monastic reform in Sri Lanka and their relationship with monastic literary production
Toward a History of Theravada Cosmological Literature
In European-language research on Theravada Buddhism, it is sometimes noted with regret that, so far, there are few systematic studies or histories of Theravada cosmology. In addition, the accounts of Theravada cosmology that exist are largely based on only a selective reading of the tradition’s earliest literature. This is particularly remarkable since monastic intellectuals in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia have produced a considerable body of tra…
Spirits of Air and Goblins Damned
Scholarship in Buddhist Studies, particularly among philologists and philosophers, often overlooks cosmology, karma, and rebirth. This neglect is a legacy of a deep and long-standing anti-metaphysical spirit that pervades the empirical and philosophical frameworks employed in the discipline. This study engages in a philological close reading of four manuscripts of an unedited and untranslated Pali commentary on the Cha-gati-dīpanī “Light on the S…
Art (4 works) · History (4 works) · Indian and Buddhist Studies (4 works) · Literature (4 works) · Ancient history (3 works) · Buddhism (3 works) · Eurasian Exchange Networks (3 works) · Archaeology (2 works) · Art history (2 works) · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography (2 works)