Monstrous Projections and Paradisal Visions: Japanese Conceptualizations of South Seas (nan'yo) as a Supernatural Space from Ancient Times to the Contemporary Period

Ombrello, Mark Alan (August 2014). Monstrous Projections and Paradisal Visions: Japanese Conceptualizations of South Seas (nan'yo) as a Supernatural Space from Ancient Times to the Contemporary Period (Thesis). University of Hawaii.

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Abstract: From Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels to the giant monster movie Mothra, the South Seas has served as conceptual space filled with supernatural potential in Western and Japanese discourse. This dissertation will examine Japanese discourse that appropriated the South Seas (Nan’yō) in that capacity with relation to historical developments and Japanese identity formation from ancient times to the present. Not only does this vast space have a long tradition associated with fantastic beings, but it also resembles traditional Japanese ghosts and other fantastic phenomena in composition and character. Drawing from methodologies and concepts integrated in the field of ghost studies (yōkaigaku), this study will survey continuities and shifts in ways Japanese came to comprehend the space as a physical and conceptual entity. Through this investigation, issues concerning the formation of a worldview, the “Othering” of Pacific peoples, and the development of Japanese modernity will be revealed, offering insight into the transformation of modes of thought and cultural production vis-à-vis direct and vicarious engagement with the oceans and Islanders south of Japan in real and imaginary contexts.

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MAG: 2590629012
CorpusID: 164558275
OpenAlex: W2590629012