Power of Words: Ritual Uses of Premodern Japanese Literature

Catalog description

In premodern Japan, it was not only death and mourning ritual and practice that could pacify the spirit of the deceased, but also language. Authors consciously crafted the words of their works to simultaneously express the grief associated with longing and pacify the spirits of the dead. These words are called kotodama (power of words). From as far back as the eighth-century Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) and Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan) textual representations of mourning were linked with special uses of language and spirit pacification. At the death of Ame-no-wakahiko (a mythological god), his parents constructed a mourning hut and performed songs to secure his spirit in the afterworld. As several authors have demonstrated, from kotodama in the mid-eighth-century poetic anthology Man'y'sh, (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) to linked verse (renga) in medieval Japan, carefully constructed literary language also had a place in ritual pacification of the spirits of the dead. Words were not simple expressions of grief; they held power. All material is in English translation. The course is conducted in English. All material will be provided via PDF. Offered as JAPN 341 , JAPN 441 , RLGN 341 , and WLIT 341 . Counts as a CAS Global & Cultural Diversity course. Counts as a Communication Intensive course. Counts as a Understanding Global Perspectives course. Prereq: Academic Inquiry Seminar (AIQS) or SAGES First Seminar.