Eloquent Plasticity

مرکز و کتابخانه مطالعات اسلامی به زبان های اروپایی

منو

" Eloquent Plasticity "
Michael Dylan Foster

Document Type	:	AL
Record Number	:	1073147
Doc. No	:	LA116776
Call No	:	‭10.1163/22118349-00901004‬
Language of Document	:	English
Main Entry	:	Michael Dylan Foster
Title & Author	:	Eloquent Plasticity [Article]\ Michael Dylan Foster
Publication Statement	:	Leiden: Brill
Title of Periodical	:	Journal of Religion in Japan
Date	:	2020
Volume/ Issue Number	:	9/1-3
Page No	:	118–164
Abstract	:	This paper explores Namahage of Akita Prefecture as it assumes three different instantiations: 1) enactment as a private ritual within individual households on New Year’s Eve; 2) performance as a public festival at a shrine in mid-February; and 3) celebration as an “element” inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. I argue that in the first instance, Namahage is part of a vernacular religious “structure of feeling” in which religious elements are inseparable from community life; in the second instantiation, religion is more explicit and codified; and in the third iteration, religion is only vaguely articulated. Tracing the “same” tradition through different forms provides insight into the changing needs of communities and into the dynamics of change itself. With this in mind, I propose a model called hrönirism through which to broadly conceptualize notions of change and difference within traditions such as matsuri. This paper explores Namahage of Akita Prefecture as it assumes three different instantiations: 1) enactment as a private ritual within individual households on New Year’s Eve; 2) performance as a public festival at a shrine in mid-February; and 3) celebration as an “element” inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. I argue that in the first instance, Namahage is part of a vernacular religious “structure of feeling” in which religious elements are inseparable from community life; in the second instantiation, religion is more explicit and codified; and in the third iteration, religion is only vaguely articulated. Tracing the “same” tradition through different forms provides insight into the changing needs of communities and into the dynamics of change itself. With this in mind, I propose a model called hrönirism through which to broadly conceptualize notions of change and difference within traditions such as matsuri.
Descriptor	:	festival
Descriptor	:	hrönir
Descriptor	:	matsuri
Descriptor	:	Namahage
Descriptor	:	ritual
Descriptor	:	UNESCO
Location & Call number	:	‭10.1163/22118349-00901004‬