A.C. Ohmoto-Frederick Dissertation
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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts GLIMPSING LIMINALITY AND THE POETICS OF FAITH: ETHICS AND THE FANTASTIC SPIRIT A Dissertation in Comparative Literature by Ayumi Clara Ohmoto-Frederick © 2009 Ayumi Clara Ohmoto-Frederick Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2009 v The dissertation of Ayumi Clara Ohmoto-Frederick was reviewed and approved* by the following: Thomas O. Beebee Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and German Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Reiko Tachibana Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Japanese Véronique M. Fóti Professor of Philosophy Monique Yaari Associate Professor of French Caroline D. Eckhardt Professor of Comparative Literature and English Head of the Department of Comparative Literature *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii Abstract This study expands the concept of reframing memory through reconciliation and revision by tracing the genealogy of a liminal supernatural entity (what I term the fantastic spirit and hereafter denote as FS) through works including Ovid’s Narcissus and Echo (AD 8), Dante Alighieri’s Vita Nuova (1292-1300), Yokomitsu Riichi’s Haru wa Basha ni notte (1915), Miyazawa Kenji’s Ginga tetsudo no yoru (1934), and James Joyce’s The Dead (1914). This comparative analysis differentiates, synthesizes, and advances upon conventional conceptions of the fantastic spirit narrative. What emerges is an understanding of how fantastic spirit narratives have developed and how their changes reflect conceptions of identity, alterity, and spirituality. Whether the afterlife is imagined as spatial relocation, transformation of consciousness, transformation of body, or hallucination, the role of the fantastic spirit is delineated by the degree to which it elicits a more profound relationship between the Self and Other. This increased participation is often precipitated by a creative renewal of faith derived from belief in FSs. Depending upon the culture-specific trope, the influence of the FS is markedly different. Ghost, apparition, spectre, and obake are conventionally interchangeable concepts, yet they each articulate a unique reality. The ghost is a disembodied spirit, the apparition is a transformed spirit with a transformed body, the spectre is related to the perception of the protagonist (e.g., a possible hallucination), and the obake is a changed object. From the original Freudian idea of the uncanny, I argue that the FS narrative’s bracketing of culture-specific issues of alterity and identity has diversified from an enclosed gothic paradigm to a dialogic encounter, influenced by modernity, that is iv structurally versus historically based. The authors studied here incorporate and innovate traditional spiritual structures in their personal narratives. The result is a new role for the cultural imaginary. v Table of Contents Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................vi Introduction........................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 Ovid’s Narcissus and Echo: an exemplum.....................................................40 Chapter 2 Beatrice as Rose and Poet in Dante’s Vita Nuova ..........................................66 Chapter 3 Spring Bouquet: Yokomitsu Riichi’s Haru wa basha ni notte......................110 Chapter 4 The “inner cosmos,” return to the mother, and Lotus Sutra: Miyazawa Kenji’s Ginga tetsudo no yoru .........................................................................................141 Chapter 5 The Easter Lily: James Joyce’s The Dead....................................................185 Conclusion: The FS, liminal closure, and renewal.......................................................218 Works Cited....................................................................................................................226 vi Acknowledgments This project was brought to fruition thanks to the moral, intellectual, and material support of many people during my graduate years at the Pennsylvania State University. I would like to thank Professor Caroline D. Eckhardt, the Head of the Comparative Literature Department, for her friendship, professional guidance, superb example, and thoughtful editorial reading of my dissertation. I wish to express gratitude to my dissertation director, Professor Thomas O. Beebee, for his critical inquiry, enthusiasm to advise on this project, unflagging perseverance during the project, idealism, and thoughtful suggestions. Thanks also for the counsel of my committee: Professor Reiko Tachibana’s inimitable humor, superior scholarship, generosity, and diplomatic suggestions; the friendship, aesthetic grace, philosophical breadth, dedication, and theoretical insight of Professor Véronique M. Fóti; and Professor Monique Yaari’s academic energy and excellence, kindness, and joy of discovery. I am indebted to the knowledgeable scholars and colleagues I have met at my own institution and at seminars and conferences. Thanks to Professor Thomas Hale for his enthusiasm and quick editing of my graduate student grant application and proposals, to Professor Robert R. Edwards for his deep abiding love of Renaissance scholarship, to Professor Vincent Colapietro for his quick wit and questions about Kristeva, and Professor Frederic Jameson for his generous interest about my theoretical ideas during his guest seminar. I am thankful for Professor Linda Ivanits’ friendship and advice. I treasure the passing conversations with Professors Djelal Kadir, Ami Dykman, Chiyoko vii Kawakami, and Sherry Roush that helped refine this project. Seminars by Professors Alan Stoekl, Santa Casciani, Robert R. Edwards, Adrian Wanner, Daniel Walden, and Kit Hume sparked interest in and aided in the refinement of some ideas. I am thankful for the friendly professional advice given by Professors Sophia McClellan, Jonathan Eburne, and Eric Hayot. I would also like to thank the energetic, organized, efficient and unfailingly kind past and present office staff in the Department of Comparative Literature including: Cindy Bierly, JoElle Devinney, Irene Grassi, Cindy Myers, Mona Muzzio, Sharon Laskowsky, Bonnie Rossman, Lynn Setzler, and Julie White. Not only were they personable, but they were fearless in negotiating administrative and scheduling challenges. I am grateful to have shared the journey with current and former fellow graduate student scholars here and at other institutions during a potentially isolating endeavor. There are so many and these are but a few (in alphabetical order): Maggie Burns, Ayo Coly, David Cooper, Christina Dokou, Manny Fernandez, Amy Frederick, Kelly G., Geoff Guevera-Greer, Heather Hayton, Angelina Ilieva, Yumiko Ishida, Masato Ishida, Tomomi Kakegawa, Silvia Marsans, Mootacem Mhiri, Carol Motta, Marika Morris, Katwiwe Mule, Chi Nakano, Keiko Nakegawa, Julie Perco, Victoria Reyna, Melissa Salvia, Peter S, Eric Schwab, Kumiko Sato, Yoshihiro Yasuhara, Yumiko Watanabe, and Erica Ryu Wong. This project greatly benefitted from the financial support provided by the Department of Comparative Literature, Japanese Program, and World Campus, and by viii grants from the Liberal Arts Graduate Studies Office and the Institute for the Arts and Humanities Studies. I would also like to thank the librarians at Penn State Pattee Library, especially Sandra Stelts and Larry Wentzel, and at the Harvard Library, University of San Diego, and Northwestern Libraries, and the staff at the Bodelian Library at Oxford University. Thanks to my parents Hiroshi and Koya, my sister Manna and her family, and in- laws Sandy and Roger. Finally, I want to thank my family Jamin, Akio, Sachi, and Hana, for their cheerful energy during this work. 1 Introduction One of the enigmas of the postmodern era is the placement of ontological meaning and identity. The loss of faith in an essentialist or central unified theory in either the sciences or the arts has spurred several strategies. Theorists and novelists have experimented with approaches concerning the theme of loss of meaning or perspectives concerning the nostalgic return that evoke lack of meaning, or a freedom from meaning. Both responses tend toward entropy and a perceived breakdown in the social order. If I am getting ready to speak at length about ghosts, inheritance, and generations, generations of ghosts which is to say about certain others who are not present, nor presently living, either to us, in us, or outside us, it is in the name of justice. --Derrida Spectres of Marx xix In this study, I will establish the neologism fantastic spirits (hereafter denoted as FS) to discuss both the unique and the universal characteristics of liminal supernatural concepts such as spirits, ghosts, spectres, obake, apparitions, and kami, which are all imbued with particular spiritual significance. Because of their intimacy with the human form, FSs are integral to what Peter Marshall calls “a geography of the afterlife” (Marshall 110). Whether the afterlife is imagined as spatial relocation, transformation of consciousness, transformation of body, or hallucination, the role of the FS is delineated by the degree to which it elicits a more profound relationship between Self and Other. This increased participation is often precipitated by a creative renewal of faith derived from belief in the FSs. Depending upon the culture-specific