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- Title
Yamauba and Oni-Women: Devouring and Helping Yamauba are Two Sides of the Same Coin.
- Authors
REIDER, NORIKO
- Abstract
A yamauba (mountain witch) is often portrayed as a mountain-dwelling old woman with a taste for human flesh. The appellation yamauba came into existence in the medieval period. The yamauba's predecessors are oni-like (demonlike) as well as mountain-deity-like beings. A yamauba herself is considered a type of oni, and yamauba and oni-woman are often used interchangeably in various texts. Although malevolent yamauba in such folktales as Kuwazu nyōbō (The Wife Who Didn't Eat), Ushikata to yamauba (Ox-Cart Puller and Mountain Witch), and Sanmai no ofuda (The Three Lucky Charms) are contrasted with the benevolent yamauba that appear in Ubakawa (Old Woman's Skin), Komebuku Awabuku (Komebuku and Awabuku), and Hanayo no hime (Blossom Princess), there is a complementary relationship between the good and evil yamauba. Their stories possess a complementary narrative format as well, and the duality of the yamauba is simply two sides of the same coin. This article also addresses how and why the yamauba's traits came into being. While the Noh play Yamanba ("Yamauba") is an indispensable text in understanding the medieval yamauba and beyond, I also consider the Noh play Kurozuka (Black Mound) a critical text in the formation of the yamauba's image.
- Subjects
YAMA-uba (Legendary character); JAPANESE legends; FOLKLORE; GOOD &; evil; ETHICS
- Publication
Asian Ethnology, 2019, Vol 78, Issue 2, p403
- ISSN
1882-6865
- Publication type
Article