Online course: «Ghosts from the East and other genies. A vision of Asian supernatural creatures in films and series»
Around the XVII century Matsuo Bashô said the following: “Give me a ghost and I will tell you how were the peoples that created it”. He did not lie, because historical testimonies can be adequated for the political interests of the moment, but it would impossible that a mythological emanation, a product of its folklore and the collective unconscious, hid the truth if there is somebody capable of decodify it.
Therefore, besides the noble objective of entertainment, we want to review how the audiovisual Asian world expresses the supernatural. In this way, we will enjoy stories about genies, vengeful ghosts, cannibalistic entities, or vampires guides by wizards. And after knowing them in depth, with the upport of a few key aspects, we will be capable of forging a better religious panoramic, social or political of the largest and most complex continent of the world: Asia.
Contents:
Session 1 Middle East. Djinn (Arabian genies); Naga (snake-woman); Golem (the jewish predecessor of Frankenstein); Mazzik (specters from Tanaj).
Session 2 China and Corea. Sun Wukong (the monkey king); Taoist black magic; Jiang Shi (chinese vampires), Inmortal demons; Flying heads / Mongdal (the virgin ghost); Muism (spirits from Korean shamanism).
Session 3 Southeast Asia. Preta (hungry ghosts); Nang Nak (love beyond death); Wewe Gombel (children caretaker); Pontianak (vengeful ghosts); Pop (cannibalistic spirits); Toyol (the monster baby).
Sesión 4 Japan. Ikiryô (living ghost), Gôryo (aristocratic ghost); Onryô (vengeful ghost); Hannya (jealous female demons); Inugami (dog specter); Rokurokubi (long-neck ghost); Nopperabo (faceless ghost).
Sesión 5 Japan. Kami (spirits and deities); Oni (demons of subjective malignity); Yôkai (imps, wondrous animals, and animated objects).
Professor:
Dr. Antonio Míguez Santa Cruz. Born in Córdoba (1984) and studying in the university from the same city, his thesis won the Extraordinary Prize in Humanities in 2016. His research focus on japanese history and cinema, con special mention in the J-Horror genre. He has imparted hundreds of conferences, besides having more than fifty publications, most of them indexed in influential magazines. He is also the editor of the prized magazine Windumanoth, aside from being an advisor to several film production companies in Spain.
