Hmmm. That last bit sounds a little like the stuff I'm doing, on collective memory and identity creation. That's Aleida Assmann or Jan Assmann, or a number of others... there is heaps of research on the subject of collective memory/cultural memory. It might not be precisely what you're looking for, but it's a start.
Basically, it mostly deals with the transformation of individual memory into cultural memory, like you're saying, how the storytelling reshapes the memories - it has a lot to do with the extensiveness of memory and the medium in which the memory is transmitted. If you're intrigued, there's a really theoretical chapter on this subject in Contextual Political Analysis, published by Oxford University Press in 2006, edited by Goodin and Tilly. The chapter itself is by Aleida Assmann.
I think it's an intriguing idea, but I get that it's not what you wanted to do. The best way I could see to break out of your dilemma is to do the research on secrecy, but really focus on how that secrecy has shaped the popular view of Tantric Buddhism, which gives you the opportunity to explain the difference between the view of Tantric Buddhism and Tantric Buddhism itself. Which should give you some room to do research on Tantric initiation, right?
no subject
Basically, it mostly deals with the transformation of individual memory into cultural memory, like you're saying, how the storytelling reshapes the memories - it has a lot to do with the extensiveness of memory and the medium in which the memory is transmitted. If you're intrigued, there's a really theoretical chapter on this subject in Contextual Political Analysis, published by Oxford University Press in 2006, edited by Goodin and Tilly. The chapter itself is by Aleida Assmann.
I think it's an intriguing idea, but I get that it's not what you wanted to do. The best way I could see to break out of your dilemma is to do the research on secrecy, but really focus on how that secrecy has shaped the popular view of Tantric Buddhism, which gives you the opportunity to explain the difference between the view of Tantric Buddhism and Tantric Buddhism itself. Which should give you some room to do research on Tantric initiation, right?