Representations of the Body and Gender in Illustrated Texts of Pre-Meiji Japan.

This Keynote talk examines a sixteenth-century narrative entitled “The New Chamberlain” (Shinkurodo monogatari), the story of a young woman who, desiring the freedoms afforded only to men, disguises herself as a man to enter court service at the imperial palace. On the surface, this illustrated tale resembles a typical courtly romance of cross-dressing intrigue. A closer look, however, reveals that the cross-dressing trope functions as a metaphor for one of the most central concerns of women related to Buddhist doctrine: the necessity of male transformation in order to achieve salvation. This talk will explore how the scroll offers a wry commentary on the standard discourse pertaining to gender conformity and female buddhahood, and will examine in the process the work’s unique representation of a defiant and complex heroine who ultimately aspires to gender nonduality.

Sponsored by the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Program, co-sponsored by the Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures Department.