Alessandro Bianchi - As Above, So Below

In this presentation, Alessandro Bianchi will discuss an understudied work of comic fiction entitled Honzō mōmoku (1780?), which recounts the afterlife adventures of the knowledgeable, yet arrogant and crafty Haraga Bannai, and his encounter with the King of Hell, Enma. Despite the facetious tone of this work, Honzō mōmoku touches upon serious topics such as politics and economics, as well as alluding to sensational scandals. By looking at contemporaneous sources, both in print and manuscript forms, Bianchi will demonstrate how the fictional plot of Honzō mōmoku was in fact a clever camouflage concealing a sharp satire of eighteenth-century politics and society.

This event is co-sponsored by the Center for the Integrated Study of Japan and the Reading Asian Manuscripts Faculty Working Group.

Honzō mōmoku (ff. 2 verso - 3 recto); National Diet Library, call no. 1-2869