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.

Introduction
Allan E.C. Wright
University of Alberta
Chapter 1 Disappointing Dragons: The Powerless Monster of the Hebrew Bible
Heather Macumber
University of Providence
Chapter 2 Becoming “Monsters”? Paul’s use of Dehumanizing Terms as Boundary Markers in Philippians
Gregory E. Lamb
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Chapter 3 Manufacturing the Monstrous (Heretic): The Constructed Judgement of Nestorius
Allan E.C. Wright
University of Alberta
Chapter 4 Strange News: Monstrous Births and Popular Prints in Reformation England
Helena L. Martin
Yale University
Chapter 5 The Serpent Dancer: Multiple Identities and Competing Rituals in Noh Play Dōjōji
Dunja Jelesijevic
Northern Arizona University
Chapter 6 The Old Woman and the Mountains: Recentering the Monstrous in Japanese Yamauba Tales
Laura Nuffer
Colby College
Chapter 7 Enlightening Monsters: Collecting and Displaying Yōkai Relics in Early Modern Japanese Buddhism
Kevin Bond
University of Regina
Contributors
Index

Dr. Allan Wright is a Lecturer at the University of Alberta. His research subjects and interests include Religious Theory, The New Testament, The Gospel of Mark, Cultural Monster Studies, Devils and Demonologies, and New Religious Movements. He is the author of '‘Better To Reign In Hell, Than Serve in Heaven:’ Satan’s Metamorphasis From a Heavenly Council Member to the Ruler of Pandaemonium'.

Monsters, Monster Theory, The Hebrew Bible, Dragons, the New Testament, Paul’s Letters, Pauline epistles, Reformation England, Monstrous Births, Noh play Dojoji, Yamauba Myths, Yokai Relics