Dialectics of the Goddess in Japanese Audiovisual Culture

This book takes us on a fascinating journey, which is at once secular and mythical, fictional and real, across the many faces that Japanese goddesses acquire in cinema: from the saint to the prostitute, from the benevolent to the wicked, from the super-powerful to the simply and movingly human. A joy to read! -- Lcia Nagib, University of Reading Since its inception, cinema has given us fascinating characters projected on screen in larger-than-life form. Because of this, film may be an ideal medium for depictions of deities, whose presence can cause overwhelming desire, dread, or devotion. The essays here show how, through decidedly audio-visual means, goddesses have been brought back to life for spectators in the modern world, whether on the large screen, or in video-games. Torres Hortelano and colleagues offer critical takes on goddesses in a history of Japanese cinema, from black-and-white through anime, and on into todays new media incarnations. -- S. Brent Plate, Hamilton College An exciting collection of essays about Japanese goddesses in audiovisual culture that looks both forward and back, returning studies of Japanese popular culture to fundamental questions about myth and divinity through close textual analysis, while also rigorously debating the ways of answering those questions as we think of Japans modernity and future. -- Aaron Gerow, Yale University

Lorenzo J. Torres Hortelano is senior lecturer at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos.

Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Representations of Goddesses in Japanese Audiovisual Culture: A New Concept Lorenzo J. Torres Hortelano 1. Kannon-sama and the Spirit of Compassion in Japanese Cinema Linda C. Ehrlich 2. Suffering and Deification: The Goddess in Night Drum Sybil A. Thornton 3. The Profound Desire of the Goddess: Sexuality and Politics in The Insect Woman Irene Gonzlez-Lpez 4. Anime Goddesses and their Hollywood Transformations Dolores P. Martinez 5. Deviant Attitudes, Lost Names and the Ether: Goddesses in Contemporary Japanese Audiovisuals Jos Montao 6. The Humanization of the Goddess: Isao Takahatas Princess Kaguya Laura Montero 7. Goddesses in Japanese Videogames: Tradition, Gameplay, Gender, and Power Vctor Navarro-Remesal 8. Ghostly Goddesses in in Japanese Cinema Lorenzo J. Torres Hortelano Notes on contributors