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Bonds of the Dead: Temples, Burial, and the Transformation of Contemporary Japanese Buddhism. By Mark Rowe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011. xv, 258 pp. $91.00 (cloth); $29.00 (paper).
Open accessAbstract
containment" (pp.7, 11).The author regards the cultural expressions related to these conceptions as part of the demimonde and its "subculture of resistance" (p.12).This broad conception of the demimonde allows Gralla to include in her study everything from Nagai Kafu ¯'s nostalgic Tamanoi to the prostitutes working so vividly in burnt-out ruins of Tokyo in Tamura's The Gate of Flesh, and the closed world of a rundown geisha house in Ko ¯da Aya's Nagareru.Other Japanese works that Gralla brings into the category of demimonde include Tanizaki's Naomi, Murakami Ryu ¯'s Almost Transparent Blue, and his film Topa ¯zu.At points, she comments on the tension between performances and imagination of the demimonde and the Japanese empire's odious practice of "comfort women."Gralla proves herself a careful and astute reader and critic of works in a range of media.To her credit, she includes a significant comparative component by reading Japanese novels against European, American, Middle Eastern, and Chinese literary works.The author also delves extensively into critical and theoretical stances on the demimonde, eroticism, taboo and transgression, trauma (national and personal), nostalgia, the city, and the figure of the flaneur.One of the most interesting and original chapters is "Dancing the Interior Demimonde," which offers analysis of writer and controversial cultural figure Mishima Yukio (and photographs of him by Hosoe Eikoh), and an especially intriguing reading of butoh performer Ohno Kazuo as "demimondaine" (pp.211-32).In her commentary on Ohno's renowned work "Admiring La Argentina," the author clarifies her broad use of the concept of the demimonde in terms of space, gender, and art, noting that Ohno "dragged behind him, in his lace train, a theatrical space filled with the essence of multiple artistic and erotic subcultures" (p.229).Also compelling are her reading of Murakami Ryu ¯'s controversial novel Almost Transparent Blue (1976), in which drugs "facilitate the creation of a personal demimonde of heightened physicality and imagination" (p.171), and her careful analysis of space and interiority in Ko ¯daAya's novel Nagareru (1955).While much of Gralla's literary and cultural analysis is thought provoking and thorough, some of the chapters suffer from repetition and would have benefited from an editor's firm hand.One also wishes for greater engagement with the work of Japanese scholars and theorists, beyond the easily accessible and translated work of premier critics such as Isoda Ko ¯ichi and Maeda Ai.The Demimonde in Japanese Literature will be of interest to students and scholars of comparative literature and Japanese studies.
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“Rowe touches an important point of the “grave problem” and the “grave-free solution” when he mentions the importance of the presence of physical objects immediately connected to the deceased (not necessarily bodily remains, p. 119) to the functioning of a memorial site (p.172).”
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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“the priest who invented the Eternal Memorial Grave at To ¯cho ¯ji (the Tokyo Rinzai temple) wanted the money for a renovation of his temple to come from “religious activities””
plainSingle case- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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“And these solutions are welcomed beyond the limits of those excluded from the benefits of traditional ancestor worship.”
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In the paper
“And he demonstrates a subtle but important shift in Japanese perceptions of the dead, away from the idea of pacification and moving towards images of the dead being assured of a peaceful resting place (pp. 118-19).”
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“This seems to contrast with another shift in the perception of cremated remains, namely that in distinction to earlier periods, cremation seems no longer to function as a way to purify the remains and to draw a secure line between the dead and the living”
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“thus showing in detail how the commercial-economical and spiritual elements may interact in various, and not necessarily conflicting, ways.”
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“On the whole, I was convinced by Rowe's argument that mortuary practices are an essential domain for investigations into the state of contemporary Japanese Buddhism, and that the innovations that were the main object of his study show the potential for a remodeling of the relationship between Buddhist temples and the laity.”
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In the paper
“On the whole, I was convinced by Rowe's argument that mortuary practices are an essential domain for investigations into the state of contemporary Japanese Buddhism, and that the innovations that were the main object of his study show the potential for a remodeling of the relationship between Buddhist temples and the laity.”
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- It may state two separate claims as one. 4
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“the involvement of a private company in the running of this temple's Eternal Memorial Grave has led one member of staff to “consider taking the tonsure””
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In the paper
“he gives ample evidence that there is a willingness by Buddhist experts, from academic centers to local temples, to face the problems at hand and to come up with novel doctrinal and practical solutions.”
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In the paper
“But throughout the book he convincingly presents Japanese Buddhism as a religion that is alive and currently struggling to renew itself, not least through the reinvention and renegotiation of its link to mortuary ritual.”
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In the paper
“Rowe's analysis does not completely reverse the received view of Buddhism as a funerary religion.”
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In the paper
“He presents ample material that elucidates not only the fact that Japanese Buddhism is “alive” and not necessarily dying, but also the mode of how it is “lived” in multiple negotiations of doctrine, custom, spirituality, and economy.”
- Also stated in: § Abstract · boosted
“But throughout the book he convincingly presents Japanese Buddhism as a religion that is alive and currently struggling to renew itself, not least through the reinvention and renegotiation of its link to mortuary ritual.”
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
- Also stated in: § Abstract · boosted
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Rowe also does much to shed light on the genealogy of the perceived contradiction between lofty doctrine and pedestrian popular custom, and to question this core tenet of the concept of “funerary Buddhism””
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. It may state two separate claims as one.
Citations
Cites
(2010) · doi:10.21313/hawaii/9780824833725.001.0001 · Cited by 73
Metadata
- Authors
- Steineck, R. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Zurich (CH)
- Corresponding author
- Steineck, Raji C.
- ORCID
- Steineck, Raji C.
- Venue
- The Journal of Asian Studies
- Publisher
- Duke University Press
- Published
- 2013-05
- Volume
- 72
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 473-475
- ISSN
- 0021-9118 (ISSN-L)
- 1752-0401
- OpenAlex
- W2321380887
- Semantic Scholar
- c06246f7309541e116a3fb0e3ca698e070167241
- Cited by
- 0
- References
- 1
- Type
- book review
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Journal of Asian Studies (publishedVersion)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Indian and Buddhist Studies
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
- Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Japanese History and Culture
- Keywords
- contemporary Japanese Buddhism, Buddhist temples, funerary practices, postwar Japan
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