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Networks of Space and Identity: Origin Narratives and Manifestations of the Itsukushima Deity.

紀錄類型:	書目-電子資源 : Monograph/item
正題名/作者:	Networks of Space and Identity: Origin Narratives and Manifestations of the Itsukushima Deity./
作者:	Drian, Jesse Lee.
出版者:	Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, : 2020,
面頁冊數:	349 p.
附註:	Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 82-08, Section: A.
Contained By:	Dissertations Abstracts International82-08A.
標題:	Religious history. -
電子資源:	https://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoapp/servlet/advanced?query=28259835
ISBN:	9798557091183

Networks of Space and Identity: Origin Narratives and Manifestations of the Itsukushima Deity.
Drian, Jesse Lee.

Networks of Space and Identity: Origin Narratives and Manifestations of the Itsukushima Deity. - Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2020 - 349 p.

Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 82-08, Section: A.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Southern California, 2020.

This item must not be sold to any third party vendors.

This dissertation examines how scholarly monks and worshippers in medieval Japan (1200-1600) negotiated the meaning of local sacred space vis-a-vis deities that were simultaneously particular, universal, and otherworldly. Taking Itsukushima Shrine, a prominent island shrine off the shore of Hiroshima, as a case study, I trace how local deities and sacred sites gained prominence through identities that connected them over with networks of divinities enshrined across the Japanese archipelago. In this manner, I provide a new way of understanding local deities, and especially the Japanese kami, that balances their spatial heterogeneity with their translocal relationality. Additionally, I show how scholarly monks employed temple and shrine origin narratives (jisha engi) as a medium capable of harmonizing Buddhist logic with additional interpretive frameworks and knowledge that extended beyond the reach of established modes of Buddhist thought. The work of scholarly monks to understand the gods did not always subsume them within Buddhist intellectual frameworks. Instead, the confounding interrelations between deities and sacred places expanded the potential local, translocal, and universal significances of Buddhist and kami deities alike.My dissertation consists of four chapters plus an introduction and conclusion. The introduction situates my arguments and methodology in relation to previous scholarship on individual cultic sites and origin narratives. As a complementary alternative to the site-based study of sacred spaces and deities, I argue for the translocal site-based study as an approach for investigating how origin narratives and knowledge of local deities may develop outside the bounds of a single religious institution. Additionally, the introduction provides a historical overview of Itsukushima Shrine to highlight the connections between sacred spaces in centers and peripheries.The first chapter introduces how origin narratives produced after the Mongol invasions employed networks of association to link the Itsukushima Deity with a select group of deities recognized for their power to defeat the Mongols. Previous studies have emphasized the self-promotional constructed nature of post-Mongol invasion origin narratives. However, I explain how the proliferation of competing arguments instead led to increased emphasis and standardization of knowledge about local gods and their interrelations. Specifically, I analyze how the fourteenth century Itsukushima Daimyojin nikki (Record of the Itsukushima Deity) origin narrative strategically identifies the Itsukushima Deity and Queen Consort Jingu as sisters of the Dragon Princess from the "Devadatta" chapter of the Lotus Sutra. This association stimulated Hachiman shrine origin narratives to incorporate and disseminate the image of the Itsukushima Deity as one of the elite deities who helped Jingu subjugate foreign enemies.The second chapter examines how scholarly monks resolved questions of spatial particularity which arose from comparisons of Benzaiten deities enshrined across the archipelago. The chapter examines how monks harmonized the universalizing logic of honji-suijaku (original form and local traces) and localizing details within origin narratives to explain local sacrality as simultaneously unique and interconnected with other sacred places. The writings of scholarly monks problematize the conventional view of local deities as defined solely by their spatial emplacement and fully appropriated within the Buddhist intellectual framework of honji-suijaku. Instead, the chapter demonstrates how scholarly monks engaged with Buddhist thought and origin narratives to provide interpretative frameworks capable of elucidating the deities' translocal nature.The third chapter shifts focus to the relationship between worshippers and deities, and concerns about whether a deity will answer one's individual's prayers. The chapter examines how original form narratives (honji monogatari) reconstruct origin narratives to encourage audiences to develop personal bonds with a deity and sacred space. The Itsukushima no honji narrative combines an emotional tale of the Itsukushima Deity past life as a princess in India and her subsequent deification with information about the deity and ritual practices to provide devotees with a means to connect with the deity through their emotional and devotional responses to the narrative. Through this analysis, I show how worshippers could feel close to the Itsukushima Deity regardless of geographical proximity, and reconsider locality as a sense of belonging held by worshippers.The conclusion reflects on the dissertation's translocal approach and the importance of methodologies which bring together micro and macro level perspectives. Recent scholarship has demonstrated the benefits of focusing on micro level subjects and particular historical and cultural contexts. I advocate for translocal site-based studies as an approach with the potential to expand methodological diversity and illuminate the interpretive viewpoints of the subjects we study.

ISBN: 9798557091183Subjects--Topical Terms:

2122824
Religious history.
Subjects--Index Terms:

Buddhism

Networks of Space and Identity: Origin Narratives and Manifestations of the Itsukushima Deity.
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500 $a Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 82-08, Section: A.
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502 $a Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Southern California, 2020.
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520 $a This dissertation examines how scholarly monks and worshippers in medieval Japan (1200-1600) negotiated the meaning of local sacred space vis-a-vis deities that were simultaneously particular, universal, and otherworldly. Taking Itsukushima Shrine, a prominent island shrine off the shore of Hiroshima, as a case study, I trace how local deities and sacred sites gained prominence through identities that connected them over with networks of divinities enshrined across the Japanese archipelago. In this manner, I provide a new way of understanding local deities, and especially the Japanese kami, that balances their spatial heterogeneity with their translocal relationality. Additionally, I show how scholarly monks employed temple and shrine origin narratives (jisha engi) as a medium capable of harmonizing Buddhist logic with additional interpretive frameworks and knowledge that extended beyond the reach of established modes of Buddhist thought. The work of scholarly monks to understand the gods did not always subsume them within Buddhist intellectual frameworks. Instead, the confounding interrelations between deities and sacred places expanded the potential local, translocal, and universal significances of Buddhist and kami deities alike.My dissertation consists of four chapters plus an introduction and conclusion. The introduction situates my arguments and methodology in relation to previous scholarship on individual cultic sites and origin narratives. As a complementary alternative to the site-based study of sacred spaces and deities, I argue for the translocal site-based study as an approach for investigating how origin narratives and knowledge of local deities may develop outside the bounds of a single religious institution. Additionally, the introduction provides a historical overview of Itsukushima Shrine to highlight the connections between sacred spaces in centers and peripheries.The first chapter introduces how origin narratives produced after the Mongol invasions employed networks of association to link the Itsukushima Deity with a select group of deities recognized for their power to defeat the Mongols. Previous studies have emphasized the self-promotional constructed nature of post-Mongol invasion origin narratives. However, I explain how the proliferation of competing arguments instead led to increased emphasis and standardization of knowledge about local gods and their interrelations. Specifically, I analyze how the fourteenth century Itsukushima Daimyojin nikki (Record of the Itsukushima Deity) origin narrative strategically identifies the Itsukushima Deity and Queen Consort Jingu as sisters of the Dragon Princess from the "Devadatta" chapter of the Lotus Sutra. This association stimulated Hachiman shrine origin narratives to incorporate and disseminate the image of the Itsukushima Deity as one of the elite deities who helped Jingu subjugate foreign enemies.The second chapter examines how scholarly monks resolved questions of spatial particularity which arose from comparisons of Benzaiten deities enshrined across the archipelago. The chapter examines how monks harmonized the universalizing logic of honji-suijaku (original form and local traces) and localizing details within origin narratives to explain local sacrality as simultaneously unique and interconnected with other sacred places. The writings of scholarly monks problematize the conventional view of local deities as defined solely by their spatial emplacement and fully appropriated within the Buddhist intellectual framework of honji-suijaku. Instead, the chapter demonstrates how scholarly monks engaged with Buddhist thought and origin narratives to provide interpretative frameworks capable of elucidating the deities' translocal nature.The third chapter shifts focus to the relationship between worshippers and deities, and concerns about whether a deity will answer one's individual's prayers. The chapter examines how original form narratives (honji monogatari) reconstruct origin narratives to encourage audiences to develop personal bonds with a deity and sacred space. The Itsukushima no honji narrative combines an emotional tale of the Itsukushima Deity past life as a princess in India and her subsequent deification with information about the deity and ritual practices to provide devotees with a means to connect with the deity through their emotional and devotional responses to the narrative. Through this analysis, I show how worshippers could feel close to the Itsukushima Deity regardless of geographical proximity, and reconsider locality as a sense of belonging held by worshippers.The conclusion reflects on the dissertation's translocal approach and the importance of methodologies which bring together micro and macro level perspectives. Recent scholarship has demonstrated the benefits of focusing on micro level subjects and particular historical and cultural contexts. I advocate for translocal site-based studies as an approach with the potential to expand methodological diversity and illuminate the interpretive viewpoints of the subjects we study.
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653 $a Shinto
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