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Norito: A Translation of the Ancient Japanese Ritual Prayers - Updated Edition Revised Edition
Contributor(s): Philippi, Donald L. (Author), Kitagawa, Joseph Mitsuo (Preface by)

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ISBN: 0691014892     ISBN-13: 9780691014890
Publisher: Princeton University Press
OUR PRICE: $39.90  

Binding Type: Paperback - See All Available Formats & Editions
Published: December 1990
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Annotation: This volume presents the only English translation of the prayers of Japan's indigenous religious tradition, Shinto. These prayers, norito, are works of religious literature that are basic to our understanding of Japanese religious history. Locating Donald Philippi as one of a small number of scholars who have developed a perceptive approach to the problem of "hermeneutical distance" in dealing with ancient or foreign texts, Joseph M. Kitagawa recalls Mircea Eliade's observation that "most of the time [our] encounters and comparisons with non-Western cultures have not made all the strangeness' of these cultures evident. . . . We may say that the Western world has not yet, or not generally, met with authentic representatives of the real' non-Western traditions." Composed in the stately ritual language of the ancient Japanese and presented as a "performing text," these prayers are, Kitagawa tells us, "one of the authentic foreign representatives in Eliade's sense." In the preface Kitagawa elucidates their significance, discusses Philippi's methods of encountering the "strangeness" of Japan, and comments astutely on aspects of the encounter of East and West.
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Religion | Shintoism
Dewey: 299.561
LCCN: 90008231
Physical Information: 0.4" H x 5.53" W x 8.55" L (0.36 lbs) 136 pages
Features: Table of Contents
 
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Publisher Description:

This volume presents the only English translation of the prayers of Japan's indigenous religious tradition, Shinto. These prayers, norito, are works of religious literature that are basic to our understanding of Japanese religious history. Locating Donald Philippi as one of a small number of scholars who have developed a perceptive approach to the problem of hermeneutical distance in dealing with ancient or foreign texts, Joseph M. Kitagawa recalls Mircea Eliade's observation that most of the time [our] encounters and comparisons with non-Western cultures have not made all the strangeness' of these cultures evident. . . . We may say that the Western world has not yet, or not generally, met with authentic representatives of the real' non-Western traditions. Composed in the stately ritual language of the ancient Japanese and presented as a performing text, these prayers are, Kitagawa tells us, one of the authentic foreign representatives in Eliade's sense. In the preface Kitagawa elucidates their significance, discusses Philippi's methods of encountering the strangeness of Japan, and comments astutely on aspects of the encounter of East and West.

 
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