Foreign Bodies in Japan, 600–1600

Catalog description

Foreign bodies move through premodern Japanese literature. Fictional tales are set into motion by a Parhaean physiognomist, a Persian lumberjack, and a princess from the moon. Khitan eschatologists persuaded aristocrats to commission countless sculptures of Indian physiques and contributed to Murasaki Shikibu’s existential gloom. Noble anatomies were covered by imported robes and exotic perfumes; dramaturgs danced like Turkic “khans.” This survey traces foreign bodies’ impact on literary culture from the arrival of literate Korean émigrés in the 600s until the arrival of Portuguese missionaries in the 1500s. We will also theorize our own role as foreign bodies vis-à-vis the corpus. Readings in translation. No previous knowledge of Japanese language or culture required.