Discussion Week 4: Ghosts Become Visible

Bring Japanese Tales and "The Suicide of the Protector of Etchu" to discussion section!

Useful information:

What are SETSUWA? Short didactic fictional tales (often claiming to be non-fiction) that were disseminated in edited collections during the medieval period.

Two important collections of setsuwa that appear in Japanese Tales

Konjaku Monogatari shû (Tales of Times Now Past), early 12th c., circa 1120.

Uji Shûi Monogatari (A Collection of Uji Tales), early 13th c.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Answer the following questions for "Very Kind of Him, No Doubt" (#28), "A Model Demon" (#97), "Hell in Broad Day" (#216), and McCullough, trans. Taiheiki, "The Suicide of the Protector of Etchû." (For more information about these stories, see the reading questions.)

a. Who do you think is behind the story -- that is, who might be the author/patron? A priest from a Buddhist temple? Shinto/Taoist priest? Aristocrat?

b. Who do you think was the likely audience? Aristocrats? Commoners? Both?

c. What is the goal of the story? Entertainment? To teach a lesson? If the latter, what is the lesson being taught?

d. Who might benefit from this story? For example, will it bring more believers into a temple or shrine?

2. How are the ghosts represented in each story? How do they fit into the models of ghosts so far (angry ghosts, hungry ghosts, demons)?

a. Are they the same as those models?

b. What is new/different?

3. In each story, who can see the ghosts?

4. Given the analysis above, and what you've learned in classs, what order would place these stories in chronologically? Why?