[Buddha-l] Academicians Claim Buddha Turned Into European Saint

[jkirk]

>
> One problem with this is that the research is based on written
> texts and the "original" version of the story is supposed to come
> from a time and place where writing was in its infancy - so it is
> difficult to extend the search back in time. Nevertheless the
> implication is that the "story of the Buddha" is a meme with a
> life of its own.
>
> - Curt
====================
Like all folklore memes, the Buddha story has gone through many changes
across the centuries. Chinese folklore has versions of such stories as
Cinderella, e.g. Trying to trace the origins and history of folkloric motifs
and types is difficult if not impossible. Much research besides that of
the Koreans has been done on the Barlaam and Josaphat tale. Perhaps
their recent effort has brought to light more tale transitions and versions 
in different languages than previous ones, as they claim.

I don't draw the implication that you do from the Korean report. No tale 
type (or very few of them , in case there is one or two) has a life of its 
own. Folklorists hold that this kind of oral literature always precedes 
writing in any given culture. (Written culture also produces its share of 
folklore, as does the internet.) It was only in the 19th c that the brothers 
Grimm, for ex., began collecting German folklore (in those days it was 
called "fairy tales) and popularized the writing of it for publication. They 
"improved" many of the tales they collected too, by the way.  Soon many 
aficionados were doing it, including composers of music who hunted down folk 
music and incorporated it into their folkloristic concert hall compositions. 
These collecting enterprises accompanied and supported rising nationalism 
among the various state/ethnic entities of Europe.