Spirits and Animism in Contemporary Japan: The Invisible Empire

SKU: 9781350200548 Category: Tag:

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Description

This book draws attention to a striking aspect of contemporary Japanese culture: the prevalence 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 expanded and diversified the realm of Japanese animism. For example, many manga, anime, TV shows, literature, and art works deal with spirits, ghosts, or with an invisible dimension of reality. International contributors ask to what extent these are cultural forms created by the media for consumption, rather than manifestations of “traditional” ancestral spirituality in their adaptations to contemporary society.

Spirits and Animism in Contemporary Japan considers the modes of representations and the possible cultural meanings of spirits, as well as 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.

Additional information

Weight 0.345 kg
Dimensions 15.6 × 23.4 cm
format

Imprint

Language

Pages

240

publisher

Year Published

26-11-2020

About The Author

Fabio Rambelli is Professor of Japanese Religions and International Shinto Foundation Endowed Chair in Shinto Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. He is series editor of Bloomsbury Shinto Studies, and his publications include The Sea and the Sacred in Japan (Bloomsbury, 2018) and A Buddhist Theory of Semiotics (2013).

ISBN 10

1350200549

Publication City/Country

London, United Kingdom

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