Dialectics of the Goddess in Japanese Audiovisual Culture

This book takes us on a fascinating journey, which is at once secular and mythical, fictional and real, across the many faces that Japanese goddesses acquire in cinema: from the saint to the prostitute, from the benevolent to the wicked, from the super-powerful to the simply and movingly human. A joy to read! -- Lúcia Nagib, University of Reading
Since its inception, cinema has given us fascinating characters projected on screen in larger-than-life form. Because of this, film may be an ideal medium for depictions of deities, whose presence can cause overwhelming desire, dread, or devotion. The essays here show how, through decidedly audio-visual means, goddesses have been brought back to life for spectators in the modern world, whether on the large screen, or in video-games. Torres Hortelano and colleagues offer critical takes on goddesses in a history of Japanese cinema, from black-and-white through anime, and on into today’s new media incarnations. -- S. Brent Plate, Hamilton College
An exciting collection of essays about Japanese goddesses in audiovisual culture that looks both forward and back, returning studies of Japanese popular culture to fundamental questions about myth and divinity through close textual analysis, while also rigorously debating the ways of answering those questions as we think of Japan’s modernity and future. -- Aaron Gerow, Yale University