Spirits and animism in contemporary Japan : the invisible empire / edited by Fabio Rambelli.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Rambelli, Fabio, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Animism--Japan.

Animism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (241 pages)

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Academic, 2019.

Summary:

"This book draws attention to a striking aspect of contemporary Japanese culture: the pervasive nature of discussions and representations of "spirits" (tama or tamashii). Ancestor cults have played a central role in Japanese culture and religion for many centuries; in recent decades, however, other phenomena have contributed to expand and diversify the realm of Japanese animism. For example, many manga, anime, TV shows, literature, and art works deal with spirits, ghosts, and more in general, with an invisible dimension of reality. International contributors ask whether these are manifestations of "traditional," ancestral spirituality in their adaptations to contemporary society, or forms of commercial merchandise created by the media for consumption. Spirits and Animism in Contemporary Japan takes seriously not only the modes of representations and their possible cultural meanings of spirits, but also and especially the metaphysical implications of contemporary Japanese ideas about spirits. The chapters offer analyses of specific cases of "animistic attitudes" in which the presence of "spirits" and spiritual forces is alleged, and attempt to trace cultural genealogies of those attitudes. In particular, they present various modes of representation of spirits (in contemporary art, architecture, visual culture, cinema, literature, diffuse spirituality) while at the same time addressing their underlying intellectual and religious assumptions."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Contents:

Changing images of the world after death / Sato Hiroo

The mystical "occident", or the vibrations of "modernity" in the mirror of Japanese thought / Jason A. Josephson-Storm

A metaphysics of the invisible realm: Minakata Kumagusu on spirits, molds, and the cosmic mandala / Fabio Rambelli

New religious movements, the media, and "Japanese animism" / Ioannis Gaitanidis

Animated city: life force, guardians, and contemporary architecture in Kyoto / Ellen Van Goethem

Essays in vagueness: aspects of diffuse religiosity in Japan / Carina Roth

Came back hounded: a spectrum of experiences with spirits and Inugami possession in contemporary Japan / Andrea de Antoni

The spirit(s) of modern Japanese fiction / Rebecca Suter

Techno-animism: Japanese media artists and their Buddhist and Shinto legacy / Mauro Arrighi

Spirit/medium: critically examining the relationship between animism and animation / Jolyon Thomas

From your name to Shin-Gojira: spiritual crisscrossing, spatial soteriology, and catastrophic identity in contemporary Japanese visual culture / Andrea Castiglioni.

Notes:

Compliant with Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Content is displayed as HTML full text which can easily be resized or read with assistive technology, with mark-up that allows screen readers and keyboard-only users to navigate easily.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-350-09712-8

1-350-09710-1

1-350-09711-X

OCLC:

1102769019