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A Kappa Manifesto

Chapter of: Living with Monsters: Ethnographic Fiction about Real Monsters(pp. 153–173)

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Metadata
TitleA Kappa Manifesto
ContributorMichael Dylan Foster(author)
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.53288/0361.1.10
Landing pagehttps://punctumbooks.com/titles/living-with-monsters-ethnographic-fiction-about-real-monsters/
Licensehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
CopyrightMichael Dylan Foster
Publisherpunctum books
Published on2023-05-11
Long abstractThis essay is written from the perspective of a Kappa, a mischievous and murderous Japanese water sprite. The text is the transcript of a commencement speech delivered by a senior Kappa historian to young Kappa at their graduation from university. While rehearsing the history of the Kappa species, the speaker demonstrates how Kappa have always been able to manipulate human desires for the survival of their own species. In this way, they have evolved from demonic water monsters to cute and seemingly harmless figures and mascots. Arguing that this evolution is strategic and has helped ensure the perpetuation of Kappa, even while other monsters have fallen by the wayside, the historian urges young Kappa to continue to be innovative in infiltrating human culture so that they may remain prominent in human imagination. Providing an introduction to specific historical changes Kappa have undergone within Japanese history, the essay also demonstrates the dynamics by which monstrous figures change through time.
Page rangepp. 153–173
Print length21 pages
LanguageEnglish (Original)
Keywords
  • Japan
  • yōkai
  • Kappa
  • evolution
  • historical change
Contributors

Michael Dylan Foster

(author)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4664-7566

Michael Dylan Foster is a professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Davis. He is the author of The Book of Yōkai: Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore (University of California Press, 2015), Pandemonium and Parade: Japanese Monsters and the Culture of Yōkai (University of California Press, 2009), and numerous articles on folklore, literature, media, and monsters. He also co-edited The Folkloresque: Reframing Folklore in a Popular Culture World (Utah State University Press, 2016) and UNESCO on the Ground: Local Perspectives on Intangible Cultural Heritage (Indiana University Press, 2015). His current project explores discourses of tourism and heritage as they relate to local festivals in Japan.