EALC 22245/32245 Monsters and Marvels: The Abnormal in China, Japan, and Korea
This course presumes that to describe what is normal in human culture, premodern and modern, we can observe how one culture’s monsters and marvels define the abnormal. The history of monsters and marvels in China, Japan, and Korea is explored on several levels: indigenous constructions of monsters and marvels in each culture; cross-influences among the three cultures; the place of monsters and marvels in everyday life; their religious and political significance; and their influence in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean aesthetic products—literature, visual and plastic arts, and performance. The focus is premodern with an eye to modern revivals in East Asia and globally.