Japanese Demon Lore: Oni from Ancient Times to the Present
2012; Western States Folklore Society; Volume: 71; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2325-811X
Autores Tópico(s)Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
ResumoJapanese Demon Lore: from Ancient Times to the Present. By Noriko T. Reider. (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2010. Pp. xxvi + 241, foreword by Peter Knecht, acknowledgments, introduction, illustrations, notes, appendices, bibliography, index. $29.95 cloth.)This is the first English-language monograph dedicated to the complicated figure of the Japanese oni, a supernatural creature often inadequately translated into English as demon or ogre. The inadequacy of such a translation, and the complexity of the notion and role of the oni in Japanese culture, is made clear in Reider's book. By tracing the oni's appearance historically, Reider takes us on a journey through a range of folkloric, literary, and popular culture materials that reveal the changes this protean figure has undergone through time.Drawing on numerous primary sources and a wealth of Japanese and English-language secondary scholarship, Reider takes a loosely chronological approach to her subject, presenting the oni's construction within a long swathe of Japanese history. She begins with an overview of four major influences-Japanese, Chinese, Buddhist, and Onmyodo (yin-yang divination) - in order to drive home the multiple and sometimes contradictory strands of the oni's development. She posits an essentially ambiguous nature to the oni: while often thought of as evil or demonic, it can also be associated with prosperity and good fortune; while commonly portrayed as male, there are also numerous examples of female oni. Reider goes on to oudine some of the oni's more pervasive characteristics, such as its ability to change shape, its vexing habit of cannibalism, and most importantly, its common configuration as a representation of otherness.In the eight chapters that follow this introduction, Reider zeroes in on different characterizations of the oni by attending to key historical and literary texts, such as the medieval Shuten Doji legend and Uji no Hashihime narrative (as embedded in a version of the epic Tale of Heike) , several Noh and Kabuki dramas, as well as a number of much more contemporary works, such as the manga/ anime Urusei Yatsura and Miyazaki Hayao's blockbuster animated film, Spirited Away. She also discusses female versions of the oni, such as the folkloric figure of the Yamauba or Yamamba.Throughout her book, Reider intertwines analysis of folklore (folktales, legends, festivals) with readings of art, literature, drama, and popular culture (particularly anime and manga). By focusing on oni in this way, she not only demonstrates the polysemy of the figure itself, but also implicitly demonstrates the intertextuality and influence between genres and social strata relevant to so many folkloric and literary forms. The book is organized in a generally chronological fashion, but Reider also links her characterizations thematically with chapters such as Oni and Japanese Identity, Sex, Violence, and Victimization, and Oni without Negatives; she simultaneously shows historical transformations of the oni image along with some of the threads that tie contemporary incarnations to their ancestors. While learning about oni themselves, readers also gain familiarity with important historical/legendary human heroes associated with their suppression, such as Onmyodo wizard Abe no Seimei and the great warrior Raiko. …
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