Buddhism and Deconstruction: Towards a Comparative Semiotics

This is a semiotic study of a corpus of texts that Kumârajîva (344-413 CE), Paramârtha (499 569 CE) and Xuanzang (599 664 CE) transmitted from India to China, featuring a critical reading of the Dazhidu Lun (T1509, Mahâ-Prajٌâpâramitâ-upadeْa-عâstra), San Wuxing Lun (T1617, Try-asvabhâva-prakara.na), and Guangbai Lun (T1571, Catu.hْataka-ْâstra-kârika). Focusing its attention on the Mahâyâna Buddhist notion of samatâ, it identifies a Buddhist semiotics which anticipates Derridas invocation of the notion of the Same in his deconstruction of binary oppositions.