The monkey as mirror : symbolic transformations in Japanese history and ritual / Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko, author.

Contributor:

大貫, 恵美子 1934

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Japan--Civilization--1945-.

Japan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiii, 269 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [1989]

Summary:

This tripartite study of the monkey metaphor, the monkey performance, and the 'special status' people traces changes in Japanese culture from the eighth century to the present. During early periods of Japanese history the monkey's nearness to the human-animal boundary made it a revered mediator or an animal deity closest to humans. Later it became a scapegoat mocked for its vain efforts to behave in a human fashion. Modern Japanese have begun to see a new meaning in the monkey--a clown who turns itself into an object of laughter while challenging the basic assumptions of Japanese culture and society.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface

A Note to the Reader

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

1. Theoretical Setting

2. The Monkey as Metaphor for the Japanese

PART TWO MEANINGS THROUGH HISTORY

3. The Monkey in Japanese Culture: Historical Transformations of Its Meaning

4. The Special Status People in Japanese Society: Historical Transformations of Their Meaning

5. The Monkey Performance: Historical Transformations of Its Meaning

6. The Monkey and the Special Status People in the Reflexive Structure of the Japanese

PART THREE BASIC STRUCTURE, PROCESSUAL-CONTEXTUAL STRUCTURE, AND MULTIPLE STRUCTURES OF MEANING

7. The Monkey Performance of the Late Medieval Period

8. The Monkey Performance in Contemporary Japan

PART FOUR FROM THE MEDIATING MONKEY TO THE REFLEXIVE MONKEY: HISTORICAL TRANSFORMATIONS AND RITUAL STRUCTURE

9. Structures of Meaning in History, Myth, and Ritual

References

Index

Notes:

Originally published: 1987.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691028460

069102846X

OCLC:

1273306528