Incest and Rebirth in Kojiki
1988; Sophia University; Volume: 43; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/2384797
ISSN1880-1390
Autores Tópico(s)Japanese History and Culture
ResumoI N Kojiki tV2, Izanami fX#Fr is referred to as an imo X, a term meaning both wife and younger sister in ancient Japanese, and scholars have generally considered this to mean that she was only the wife, and not the sister, of Izanagi f1f$g1MO. 1 The first scholar to suggest an incestuous union between the two was Oka Masao EAItt, who claimed that the tale of Izanagi and Izanami is based on a myth about an incestuous brother-sister union that is common in Southeast Asia, Central India, and other Asian regions.2 According to this myth, long ago there was a great flood that exterminated all mankind with the exception of two people, a brother and sister, on a mountain. After performing a rite to abolish the incest taboo, they tried to produce children, but on their first attempt the woman gave birth to deformed offspring. But they succeeded in producing normal children on their second attempt and thus became the ancestors of present-day human beings.3 Oka points out the similarity between this myth and the Izanagi-Izanami story, and claims that the latter closely parallels the Asian myth about the incestuous union between brother and sister. Hattori Asake, on the other hand, finds three significant differences between the two versions: (1) the Izanagi-Izanami myth does not mention a flood; (2) there is no clear indication that Izanagi and Izanami are in fact brother and sister; and (3) the theme of the myth in Kojiki is the birth of lands, whereas
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