Premodern Monsters: A Varied Compilation of Pre-modern Judeo-Christian and Japanese Buddhist Monstrous Discourses

Over the past decades, monster studies has expanded from a little-known niche to a lively interdisciplinary field. However, modern conceptions of monstrosity continue to receive a disproportionate share of scholarly attention. This volume contributes to the ongoing diversification of monster studies by examining an array of premodern monsters in both Western Judeo-Christian and East Asian Buddhist contexts. Specific topics include dragon-slaying imagery in the Hebrew Bible; dehumanization of non-Christians in the Pauline Epistles; monsterizing portrayals of the early Christian heretic Nestorius; monstrous births in Reformation England; the construction of the demonic feminine in the Japanese Noh play "Dōjōji"; Japanese lore about cannibalistic “mountain hags”; and supposed relics from supernatural creatures in Edo-period Japan. Building on and challenging existing scholarship, the essays in this volume illuminate the many ways in which monsters simultaneously reinforce and subvert normative values, reflecting and refracting the anxieties of the humans who create them.