Etoki: The art and rhetoric of pictorial exegesis.

摘要

The topic of my dissertation concerns the role of pictorial images in the popularization of Pure Land Buddhism in medieval Japan. Japanese Buddhism, a prerogative of the aristocracy alone since the sixth century, was popularized among the commoners in the Kamakura Period (1185-1333) by way of teaching the simple practice of devotion to Amida Buddha. Painting illustrating the tenets of Buddhist doctrine were crucial to this dissemination through demonstrating visually the ideals of Pure Land Buddhism. In spite of the significance of the paintings' role in religious education, historians of religion often overlook the pedagogical role of these pictorial representations, while art historians are primarily concerned with the iconography and subject matters of the images. My dissertation bridges the two approaches by placing the representations in the context of pictorial exegesis called etoki (literally "unraveling the painting"). The term etoki also signifies the idea of pictorial translation from the literary text. This explains the reason why the etoki paintings are all based on the texts. The word also signifies the person who presents the pictorial exegesis as though there is no clear distinction between the performance and the performer. My dissertation investigates this tripartite significations of the word etoki. My method will combine both formal semiotic and textual analyses in examining such paradigmatic etoki texts as Picture Biography of Prince Shotoku, Taima Mandala, Kanshinji Jikkai Mandal and related texts.