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Accepted Paper:
The posthumanist capital: the role of animals in the rebirth of Kyoto
Morgan Pitelka
(University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Paper short abstract:
This paper will consider the reconstruction of Kyoto (1586-1670) in terms of the activities, agency, and ecology of the animal inhabitants of the city and its surroundings.
Paper long abstract:
This paper will consider the reconstruction of Kyoto between 1586-1670 in terms of the activities, agency, and ecology of the animal inhabitants of the city and its surroundings, arguing that nonhuman actors were not mere spectators to the glorious renaissance of the imperial capital, but were central to its transformation. Oxen, horses, raptors, and other “vassal animals” labored alongside humans throughout the reconstruction of Kyoto, while monkeys, snakes, deer, foxes, and tanuki pushed back, complicating the attempts of city dwellers to create stability. The lively and diverse culture of early modern Kyoto was jointly generated by its human and nonhuman urban residents, inclusive also of the symbolic inflections of animals real and imagined, ranging from the giant salamanders of the mountain streams north of the city to the world of fish populating the river to the painted cranes and mythical lions that marked Kyoto’s proliferating palaces and temples.