Current Search: Legends--Japan. (x)
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Title
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Haunted Boundaries: Ghost Stories in Isolationist Japan.
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Creator
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Finch, Travis, Swanstrom, Elizabeth, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
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Abstract/Description
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One of the most popular forms of literature in Japan is that of “kaidan.,” literally meaning “strange story,” during the Edo period, but over time “kaidan” has come to specifically mean stories of “yūrei,” or “Japanese ghosts.” Many Western academic studies concerning kaidan thus far are concerned with the genre’s shift from religious didactics to secular entertainment. This is an important evolution to keep in conversation with this project; However, this study will argue that ghosts work as...
Show moreOne of the most popular forms of literature in Japan is that of “kaidan.,” literally meaning “strange story,” during the Edo period, but over time “kaidan” has come to specifically mean stories of “yūrei,” or “Japanese ghosts.” Many Western academic studies concerning kaidan thus far are concerned with the genre’s shift from religious didactics to secular entertainment. This is an important evolution to keep in conversation with this project; However, this study will argue that ghosts work as Edo symbols for failing boundaries within an isolationist society. Two of the main texts in this project are translations by Lafcadio Hearn, being “Mimi Nashi Hōichi” and “Jikininki.” The other two main texts used are translations of “Banchō Sarayashiki” by Zack Davisson. In my study, I identify breaches of boundaries within social order in these texts using the aid of Mikhail Bakhtin’s “the grotesque,” Julia Kristeva’s “abject horror,” and Jacques Derrida’s “hauntology.”
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Date Issued
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2016
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PURL
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http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004590, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004590
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Subject Headings
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Hearn, Lafcadio,--1850-1904--Influence., Hearn, Lafcadio,--1850-1904.--Mimi nashi hōichi--Criticism and interpretation, Hearn, Lafcadio,--1850-1904.--Jikininki--Criticism and interpretation., Davisson, Zack--Influence., Davisson, Zack.--Banchō sarayashiki--Criticism and interpretation., Ghost stories, Japanese--Criticism and interpretation., Legends--Japan., Supernatural in literature.
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Format
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Document (PDF)
