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The Human Mask: Yokai and Yurei Wearing Human Faces in Japanese Folklore
MTC 211 • 2nd Floor • 3:00 PM
The Human Mask: Yokai and Yurei Wearing Human Faces in Japanese Folklore
Zack Davisson, New York University
In a flip of perspective, Zack will explain how Yokai are both the mask and the wearer of them.
Many early tales from Noh theater and Buddhist literature featured supernatural creatures disguised as humans, with the dénouement coming from when the human mask was dropped and the spirit revealed. This was continued through the Edo period and extends into today’s modern entertainment, as yokai seek to infiltrate human culture for reasons entirely of their own.
About Zack Davisson
Zack Davisson is an award-winning writer, translator, and lecturer. He is on faculty at NYU in the Translation and Interpretations department and active in his fields. He has won multiple Eisner awards and the Bram Stoker award. Respected in both academic and popular culture circles, Davisson played a significant role in making Japanese folklore, entertainment, and literature accessible to English-speaking audiences.
He is a regular lecturer at universities, museums, and cultural institutes, as well as appearing on podcasts, on documentaries, and as a guest at comic and anime conventions.
Current projects include ULTIMATE X-MEN for Marvel Comics, CAT + CRAZY for Dark Horse, and THE ART OF SHIGERU MIZUKI for Drawn and Quarterly.
Davisson has worked with National Geographic and the Smithsonian, and has been featured on NPR, the BBC, and The New York Times. His original works have been translated into multiple languages.