Fabio Rambelli

Fabio Rambelli (June 15, 1963–    )^[1] is an Italian academic, author^[2] and editor. He is a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).^[3]

Early life

Fabio Rambelli was born in Ravenna, Italy. He earned a BA in Japanese language and culture from the University of Venice. In 1992, he was awarded his PhD in East Asian Studies from University of Venice and the Italian Ministry of Scientific Research. He also studied at the Oriental Institute in Naples and at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.^[4]

Career

In 2001, Rambelli was a professor of religious studies, cultural studies, and Japanese religions at Sapporo University in Japan.^[4]

His scholarly perspective construes

"late medieval and early modern Shinto as the result of complex processes involving both the localization of Buddhism (as a translocal religion) in Japan and the opening of the Japanese tradition to several Asian intellectual trends (such as Neo-Confucianism and Daoism from China, but also Neo- Brahmanism from India), together with an enhanced awareness of cultural identity and specificities.^[3]

At present, Rambelli holds the International Shinto Foundation Chair in Shinto Studies at UCSB.^[3]

Selected works

In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Fabio Rambelli, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses roughly 9 works in 20+ publications in 2 languages and 700+ library holdings.^[5]

• イタリア的考え方: 日本人のためのイタリア入門 (1997)
• Reconfiguring Cultural Semiotics: the Construction of Japanese Identity (2000)
• Vegetal Buddhas: Ideological Effects of Japanese Buddhist Doctrines on the Salvation of Inanimate Beings (2001)
• Buddhas and Kami in Japan honji suijaku as a Combinatory Paradigm (2002)
• イタリア的 : 「南」の魅力 (2005)
• 南の思想: 地中海的思考への誘い (2006)
• Buddhist Materiality: a Cultural History of Objects in Japanese Buddhism (2007)

Articles

• "The Ritual World of Buddhist 'Shinto': The Reikiki and Initiations on Kami-related Matters (jingi kanjo) in Late Medieval and Early-Modern Japan," Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Vol. 29, Nos. 3-4, Fall 2002, pp. 265-297.
• "Secret Buddhas (hibutsu): The Limits of Buddhist Representation," Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 57, No. 3, Autumn 2002, pp. 271-307.
• "True Words, Silence, and the Adamantine Dance. On Japanese Mikkyo and the Formation of the Shingon Discourse," Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Vol. 21, No. 4, December 1994: pp. 373-405.

Notes