Bones of Contention: Animals and Religion in Contemporary Japan. By Barbara R. Ambros. University of Hawaii Press, September 30, 2012. 280 pages. ISBN-10: 082483674X ISBN-13: 978-0824836740
摘要
Ambros gives us a rigorous account without pretenses that examines the intersection of modern family life and religion with a twist: She considers pets as they have emerged as “family members, children, or companions.” The historical background in early chapters is meticulous and captivating. A key argument here is that religious memorialization is in fact a response to modernity, the commodification of animals, and the rising food industry. The notion of harvested whales “becoming Buddhas” and other illustrations from the nineteenth century whaling industry will captivate those familiar with swirling contemporary debates on the subject. With regard to modern pets, contestation arises in both social and legal arenas with regard to issues such as if owners are manipulated through their grief to purchase funerary services and how such rituals are understood in reference to more traditional memorials for inanimate objects, non‐pet animals, and humans. The treatment continues with an intriguing look at necrogeography, considering pet memorial spaces with respect to family Buddhist altars and interment locations for pet remains. This highly recommended text ends with an enchanting look at manifold spiritual discourses surrounding pet deaths, which include both the notion pets in the afterlife as potentially vengeful spirits or as helpful and loving ethereal companions.
