著者

井島ワッシュバーン パトリック

雑誌

崇城大学芸術学部研究紀要 (ISSN:18839568)

巻号頁・発行日

no.15, pp.5-21, 2021

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This study examines how oni, demon-like creatures of Japanese folklore, are expressed in the popular Japanese comic series “Kimetsu no Yaiba” by Gotouge Koyoharu serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 2016 to 2021 by applying a framework called Monster Theory. The publication of this theory advocated by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen and made up of seven theses regarding the nature of monsters, marked the beginning of a surge in popularity of studies and research related to monsters in Europe and the United States and is a theory that attempts to clarify the meanings of monsters that appear in various modern media creations. Previous studies have shown that the presence of monsters has been useful as an indicator of social normative and non-normative distinctions, but such analyses have been primarily focused on the explication of literature and cinema. In this study, I would like to provide an example of the application of monster theory to the graphic narrative format-specifically the medium of Japanese comics. As “Kimetsu no Yaiba” provides nuanced expressions of oni, monsters that have a long history in Japan and are tied intimately to various aspects of Japanese culture past and present, it will serve as a worthy example of a robust application of the Monster Theory framework to the graphic narrative format. Through such application, I would like to develop a deeper understanding of the psychology that society has toward the self and the Other and uncover examples of alternative viewpoints within the work related to the attitudes the author thinks people should hold in regard to the self and those Others.First, I will give a short introduction to Monster Studies and Monster Theory and its applications, especially to the medium of comics. Then I will discuss the evolution of the monster’s role in society and the history of oni in Japan. After describing typical perceptions of oni and traditional representations of oni in Japanese comics, I will delve into how the main characters and oni of “Kimetsu no Yaiba” provide clear examples of several aspects of Cohen’s Monster Theory, and I will give examples that relate to each of the seven theses contained within the Monster Theory framework to expose the potential of the work as a tool for developing new more nuanced attitudes toward the self and the Other.