Pandemonium and parade : Japanese monsters and the culture of yokai / Michael Dylan Foster.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Foster, Michael Dylan, 1965-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Animals, Mythical--Japan.

Animals, Mythical.

Supernatural.

Spirits.

Japan--Folklore.

Japan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (311 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Japanese monsters and the culture of Yōkai

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Water sprites, mountain goblins, shape-shifting animals, and the monsters known as yôkai have long haunted the Japanese cultural landscape. This history of the strange and mysterious in Japan seeks out these creatures in folklore, encyclopedias, literature, art, science, games, manga, magazines, and movies, exploring their meanings in the Japanese cultural imagination and offering an abundance of valuable and, until now, understudied material. Michael Dylan Foster tracks yôkai over three centuries, from their appearance in seventeenth-century natural histories to their starring role in twentieth-century popular media. Focusing on the intertwining of belief and commodification, fear and pleasure, horror and humor, he illuminates different conceptions of the "natural" and the "ordinary" and sheds light on broader social and historical paradigms-and ultimately on the construction of Japan as a nation.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Note On Japanese Names And Terms

1. Introduction To The Weird

2. Natural History Of The Weird: Encyclopedias, Spooky Stories, And The Bestiaries Of Toriyama Sekien

3. Science Of The Weird: Inoue Enryō, Kokkuri, And Human Electricity

4. Museum Of Theweird: Modernity, Minzokugaku, And The Discovery Of Yōkai

5. Media Of The Weird: Mizuki Shigeru And Kuchi-Sake-Onna

6. Yōkai Culture: Past, Present, Future

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-275) and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9786612772474

9781282772472

1282772473

9780520942677

0520942671

OCLC:

1110706976