Deviant Viewers and Gendered Looks: Erotic Interactions with Images and Visual Culture in Song Popular Religion
This article examines popular anecdotes about erotic responses to religious images during the Song dynasty (960-1279). It first compares three interrelated traditions in order to see different agents at work: discussions of living images in art criticism, stories about miraculous icons in religious...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Johns Hopkins University Press
2021
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| In: |
Journal of Chinese religions
Year: 2021, Volume: 49, Issue: 1, Pages: 21-47 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
China
/ Cult image
/ Visual perception
/ Eroticism
/ Interaction
/ Folk religion
/ History 960-1279
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| RelBib Classification: | KBM Asia |
| Further subjects: | B
popular religion
B 感神通靈 B 宋代 B 神像顯靈 B 性別 B Visual Culture B Sexuality B Song Dynasty B 民間宗教 B Gender B 視覺文化 B living images |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article examines popular anecdotes about erotic responses to religious images during the Song dynasty (960-1279). It first compares three interrelated traditions in order to see different agents at work: discussions of living images in art criticism, stories about miraculous icons in religious accounts, and erotic encounters with nonhumans in tales and anecdotes. In comparison with these traditions, narratives of erotic interaction with religious images often emphasize the agency of the viewer. For cases in which images are said to have responded, the narrative often displays deliberate efforts toward justification and interpretation. This article then examines the materiality of religious imagery in Song anecdotes and compares it with the nonreligious images and objects that become jingguai 精怪 (transforming creatures). Finally, through analyzing the depiction of female beholders and their desire in anecdotes and medical treatises, this article argues that a changing discourse on female sexuality took place during the Song-Yuan period. |
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| ISSN: | 2050-8999 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Chinese religions
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