Christine Chojnacki

Having been Professor of Indian Languages and Culture at the University of Lyon, France, Christine Chojnacki joined UTM's Department of Historical Studies as the holder of the Gyan and Kanchan Jain Chair of Jainism with a graduate appointment in the Department for the Study of Religion. She focuses on the literature and history of Jainism, one of the three major ancient Indian religions. 

Her current research is concerned with the preservation, translation and study of  the largely forgotten medieval Jain literature in Sanskrit and Prakrit: for example, the reconstruction of Indian knowledge systems from the passages contained in the romance-poems (elephantology, gemmology, divination), the study of manuscript transmission and reception (text types, lay families, monastic lineages) and the exploration of little-known literary genres (kathākośa, upadeśamālā, prabandha), all of which shed light on the important role of Jainism in Indian history and culture and enrich our knowledge of pre-modern India. Inquiries from prospective students in these and related areas are most welcome.

Christine Chojnacki has published books and articles on various Jain literary genres (e.g., ritual eulogies of pilgrimage sites, the Kṛṣṇa tradition in Jain sources, letters of invitation from the lay community to famous monks, biographies of monks, the festival of knowledge (jñānapañcamī) written in several Indian languages, mainly Sanskrit and Prakrit, but also Apabhraṃśa and Old Gujarati. Her latest publication (2024) is ‘Voix et échos du roman-poème en prakrit : vers une histoire des traditions monastiques jaina dans l’Inde médiévale (8e–12e siècles)’ published in Marburg, Germany (Indica & Tibetica 62). Her previous book on the Kuvalayamālā, a long narrative work in prose and verse composed by Uddyotana in 779 (Marburg, Indica & Tibetica 50, 2008) opened up the new field of medieval Jain Romance-poems and won the Prakrit Jnanabharati International Award in 2013; it has also been translated into English (Bangalore: Sapna House, 2018).

Education

Christine Chojnacki started with Classics (Latin, Ancient Greek) before becoming fascinated by the civilisations of India. After studying Sanskrit in Strasbourg with Gerard Fussman, she discovered Prakrit and Jainism in Paris with Colette Caillat and specialised in this field of research in Münich and Muenster with Adelheid Mette and in London with J. C. Wright.