存在論的反転としての股のぞき

抄録

  This article examines the ontological function of a body technique called matanozoki, which is found sporadically in the Japanese archipelago in modern times. Matanozoki is a posture of bending oneʼs body and looking backward from between the legs, corresponding to what is labeled in the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature as D1821.3.3.: “magic sight by looking under oneʼs legs.” This article also takes another magical posture called sodenozoki (D1821.3.1., “magic sight by looking under arm”) as having the same ontological function since there is structural isomorphism with matanozoki. Through matanozoki or sodenozoki, one can discover that ships or human beings could actually be a host of ghosts of the drowned or mysterious foxes or other yōkai (mysterious nonhuman beings), or that yōkai that trying to hide their actual bodies with magic could be there. Furthermore, there is a modern folk belief that an infant doing matanozoki is a sign of its motherʼs pregnancy, indicating that matanozoki enables infants to see the near future. Quite similar beliefs that demons and future spouses can be glimpsed between the legs can also be found in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Africa.

 

  Tsunemitsu Toru claims that what one sees by matanozoki is the other world. However, a closer look at the cases collected by Tsunemitsu and others shows that in some cases, matanozoki enables a person to restore his/her normal sight. These cases imply that the person involved had already been transformed into an abnormal being by mischievous yōkai with their mysterious power. Adopting the anthropological theory of perspectivism, this article proposes a hypothesis that many peoples consider matanozoki (D1821.3.3.) as a switch between normal human sight and mysterious nonhuman sight. Assuming that matanozoki reverses the ontological relationship between the world and the human body, this hypothesis can possibly provide a consistent explanation to various cases of matanozoki, including similar cases in other countries.