YAMANAKA Yuriko
Staff Members
YAMANAKA Yuriko
Professor
Director, Department of Advanced Human Sciences
| Research Specialization | Comparative study of traditions on Alexander the Great; West Asia, Iran |
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| Individual Research Projects | Comparative Study of Marvels and the Uncanny: Human Imagination and the Natural World |
Personal website
Academic Qualifications:
- B.A. Kalamazoo College 1988
- M.A. Univ. of Tokyo 1991
- Ph.D. Univ. of Tokyo 2007
Academic Positions:
- Research Fellow, Institute of Oriental Culture, The University of Tokyo (1993)
- Assistant Professor, Dept. of Museum Anthropology, National Museum of Ethnology (1998)
- Assistant Professor, Dept. of Cultural Research, National Museum of Ethnology (2004)
- Associate Professor, Dept. of Cultural Research, National Museum of Ethnology (2009)
- Associate Professor, Center for Cultural Resource Studies, National Museum of Ethnology (2017)
- Professor, Center for Cultural Resource Studies, National Museum of Ethnology (2019)
- Professor, Dept. of Modern Society and Civilization, National Museum of Ethnology (2021)
Research Topics:
Comparative study of traditions on Alexander the Great.
Yuriko Yamanaka’s research interests lie in the field of comparative literature. Her main focus has been the transmission of pre-Islamic traditions concerning Alexander the Great into the mediaeval Islamic world. She has published, The Allegoresis of Alexander the Great: From Antiquity to Medieval Islam (2009, in Japanese). In this book she examines texts in Arabic and Persian, from the beginnings of Islam in the 7th century to the Mongol invasion in the middle of the 13th century, with the aim of understanding the formation and transformation of the image of Alexander, and its place in the faith, political ideas, and historical consciousness of medieval Muslims.
She was the principal investigator of an Inter-university joint research project on the comparative study of marvels and the uncanny. As chief curator, she presented the results of this project in the Special Exhibition “Regnum Imaginarium: Realm of the Marvelous and Uncanny” (August 29 to November 26, 2019).
Geographical Areas of Interest:
West Asia, Iran
Discipline:
Comparative literature and culture
Doctoral thesis:
2007
Allegoresis of Alexander in the Classical Age of Islam.
Publications:
| 2021 | Information: Awards. In Minpaku Antropology Newsletter 50 National Museum of Ethnology, p. 14. |
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| 2020 | REGNUM IMAGINARIUM: Realm of the Marvelous and Uncanny Minpaku Anthropology Newsletter 50: 11. National Museum of Ethnology.2020/09/24 |
| 2019 | A Very Short Introduction to the Marvelous and Uncanny. In Yamanaka, Y. (ed.) Kyōi to Kaii (REGNUM IMAGINARIUM: Realm of the Marvelous and Uncanny) [In Japanese and English], pp. 6-7. Tokyo: Kawade Shobo Shinsha Publishers inc. |
| 2019 | Konoyo no Kiwa (Edge of the World: Inside and Outside of “Nature”). (In Japanese), Y. Yamanaka and H. Yamada (eds.). Tokyo: Bensei Publishing Inc. |
| 2019 | Kyōi to Kaii (REGNUM IMAGINARIUM: Realm of the Marvelous and Uncanny). (In Japanese and English), Tokyo: Kawade Shobo Shinsha Publishers inc. |
| 2019 | Authenticating the Incredible: Comparative Study of Narrative Strategies in Arabic and Persian ʿajāʾib Literature. In Yohanan Friedmann (ed.) Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 45(2018): 303-353. Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation. (2019/6) |
| 2018 | The Tear-bottle Quest: European perception of the Biblical Orient and Iranian Shiite ritual. In Regina F. Bendix, D. Noyes (eds.) Terra Ridens -Terra Narrans, pp. 152-172. Dortmund: Verlag für Orientkunde. |
| 2017 | Multilingualization of Displays at Minpaku. Minpaku Anthropology Newsletter 45: 9-11. (2017.11) |
| 2015 | Kyōi no bunkashi (Cultural History of Marvels in the Middle East and Europe). (In Japanese), Nagoya: Nagoya University Press. |
| 2014 | The Experience of Time. In The Organizing Committee of “The Power of Images” (ed.) The Power of Images: The National Museum of Ethnology Collection. pp. 211-213, National Museum of Ethnology. |
| 2013 | The Arabian Nights in Traditional Japanese Performing Arts. In Marina Warner, Philip F. Kennedy (Eds.), Scheherazade’s Children: Global Encounters with the Arabian Nights. pp. 274-281, New York: New York University Press. |
| 2012 | “The Islamized Alexander in Chinese Geographies and Encyclopaedias,” Richard Stoneman, Kyle Erickson and Ian Netton (eds.), The Alexander Romance in Persia and the East, Ancient Narrative Supplements 15, 2012, pp. 263-274. |
| 2010 | Les modes de transmission du savoir: Alexandre le Grand et l’évolution de l’historiographie arabe. Dans A. Saito et Y. Nakamura (dir.) Les outils de la pensée: étude historique et comparative des «textes», pp.99-101, Paris: Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’homme. |
| 2009 | My Field of Dreams. Minpaku Anthropology Newsletter 29: 14-15. |
| 2009 | Alekusandā hensō (The Allegoresis of Alexander). (In Japanese), Nagoya: Nagoya University Press. |
| 2009 | The Paper Road : Missing Link between China and Europe. In A. Saito (ed.) Text and Human Sciences, pp.195–208. Kyoto: Jinbunshoin. |
| 2009 | The Tear-bottle. In T. Imaseki (ed.) Cultural Study on Tears, (In Japanese), pp.104–115. Tokyo: Seikansha. |
| 2007 | Un héros aux mille et un visages: Classification des récits sur Alexandre dans la littérature médiévale arabe et persane. Classer les récits: Théories et pratiques, pp.241–256. Paris: L’Harmattan. |
| 2006 | Alexander the Great in the Wake of Islamic Historiography. Comparative Literature and Culture 87: 17–40. (English abstract), Special Issue: The Middle East (27)–(28). |
| 2006 | Foreword: The Force of Narrative: What Scheherazade Relates to Us. Comparative Literature and Culture 87: 1–2. |
| 2006 | The Arabian Nights and Orientalism: Perspectives from the East and West, Y. Yamanaka and T. Nishio (eds.). London: I.B.Tauris. ** Runner-up of The Katharine Briggs Folklore Award 2006: Judges’ Report (pdf)** ** Reviews: Reviewed by Marina Warner. Times Literary Supplement, 3 November, 2006. Reviewed by William L. Hanaway, Emeritus, University of Pennyslvania. Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, January, 2007, pp.828. Reviewed by Robert W. Lebling. Saudi Aramco World Sept/Oct. issue, 2006, pp.40. |
| 2006 | Alexander in the Thousand and One Nights and the Ghazali Connection. In Y. Yamanaka and T. Nishio (eds.) The Arabian Nights and Orientalism: Perspectives from the East and West, London: I.B. Tauris, pp.93–115. |
| 2004 | Les Mille et Une Nuits et les automates: I’interaction infinie de la science et de la fiction. Les Mille et Une Nuits en partage, pp.39–52. Sindbad. |
| 2003 | History and Kingship through the Looking Glass: A Comparative Study of Specula/Jian in Oriental and Occidenal Literatures. In C. Szyska and F. Pannewick (eds.) Crossings and Passages in Genre and Culture, pp.11–25. Wiesbaden: Reichert. |
| 2002 | The Eskandarname of Manuchehr Khan Hakim: A 19th Century Persian Popular Romance on Alexander. Iran: Questions et Connaissances. Actes du IVe Congrès Européen des Etudes Iraniennes organisé par la Societas Iranologica Europaea (6–10 September, 1999), Vol. II: Periodes médiévale et moderne (Studia Iranica, Cahier 26), pp.181–189. Paris. |
| 2001 | The Desert as a Realm of Unbound Passion: Love and Madness in the Tale of Layla and Majnun. In T. Nishio (ed.) Cultural Change in the Arab World (Senri Ethnological Studies 55), pp.143–148. |
| 2001 | Urban Space in Vision: Exploring the City of Brass in theThousand and One Nights. In R. Haag-Higuchi and C. Szyska (eds.) Erzalter Raum in Literaturen der islamischen Welt / Narrated Space in the Literatures of the Islamic World. Wiesbaden. |
| 1999 | Ambiguïté de l’image d’Alexandre chez Firdawsi-: Les traces des traditions sassanides dans le Livre des Rois. In L. Harf-Lancner, C. Kappler and F. Suard (eds.) Alexandre le Grand dans les littératures occidentales et proche-orientales, pp.341–53. Universite Paris X, Paris. |
| 1998 | The Philosopher and the Wise King: Aristotle and Alexander the Great in Arabic and Persian Literature. Proceedings of the International Congress: Comparative Literature in the Arab World (1995). Egyptian Society of Comparative Literature, Cairo. |
| 1993 | From Evil Destroyer to Islamic Hero: The Transformation of Alexander the Great’s Image in Iran, Annals of Japan Association for Middle East Studies, 8: 55–87. |
Book Review:
| 2007 | “Book Reviews : Djalal Khaleghi-Motlagh, Notes on the Shahnameh Vol. 1, Parts 1-2 (NY: Persian Heritage Foundation, Bibliotheca Persica Press, 2001)” In Middle Eastern Literatures Vol. 10 No. 1, 2007, pp. 86-88. |
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| 2007 | Notes on the Shahnameh Vol. 1, Djalal Khaleghi-Motlagh Parts (1)–(2), Persian Heritage Foundation, NY: Bibliotheca Persica Press, 2001. Middle Eastern Literatures Vol. 10 No. 1, April, 2007. |
Presentations:
| 2020 | The Biodiversity and Liminality of the Imaginary. The 10th Conference on Cultural History of PaleoAsia, (O)(2020.12.20) (Proceedings, p. 67). |
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| 2020 | Environmental hazards and human imagination: Case study on thunder and lightning. The 9th Conference on Cultural History of PaleoAsia, (O) (2020.5.16) (Proceedings, p. 82). |
| 2020 | The Museum as a Re-enchanted Forest?: Magical Thinking in Museum Space, REDIM (Dynamiken religiöser Dinge im Museum) Online Colloquium, (O)(2020.12.4) |
| 2019 | Yamanaka, Y. and K. Tamura (2019) Mapping the complexity of composite creatures. The 8th Conference on Cultural History of PaleoAsia, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, Poster presentation (2019.12.14-15) (Proceedings, p. 86). |
| 2019 | Yamanaka, Y. and K. Tamura (2019) Pilot study on the coding of composite creature parameters. The 7th Conference on Cultural History of PaleoAsia, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Poster presentation (2019.5.11-12) (Proceedings, p. 80). |
| 2019 | Boundaries of the ‘natural’ and ‘supernatural’. KAKENHI International Workshop Boundaries of the ‘natural’ and ‘supernatural’, National Museum of Ethnology (2019.11.24). |
| 2019 | Witness of Wonders: Fragmented, Recycled, and Reorganized Alexander Narrative in Mediaeval Persian Encyclopaedia., “There was one, there wasn’t one”: Modalities and challenges of the narrative in the Persianate world, Auditorium de la Bulac, Paris.(2019.06.27-2019.06.28) |
| 2018 | Complexity and “environmental adaptability” of imaginary creatures. The International Workshop, Cultural History of PaleoAsia, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Poster presentation (2018.12.1 6–18) (Proceedings, p. 103). |
| 2018 | Biota of the imaginary (5): Mapping water monsters. The 6th Conference on Cultural History of PaleoAsia, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Poster presentation (2018.11.17–18) (Proceedings, p. 91). |
| 2018 | Biota of the Imaginary (4): Travelling tales of the Mandragora. The 5th Conference on Cultural History of PaleoAsia, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Poster presentation (2018.5.12–13) (Proceedings, p. 95). |
| 2018 | En France, l’Orient s’est révélé à moi…: Entretien avec calligraphe Hassan Massoudy, French Orientalism and its Afterlives in Japan and the Middle East, Maison de la culture du Japon, Paris(2018.2.7) |
| 2017 | The biota of the imaginary (3) : the evolutionary tree of Tengu. The 4th Conference on Cultural History of PaleoAsia, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Poster presentation (2017.12.9–10) (Proceedings, p. 63). |
| 2017 | Image of Europe through Japanese Animation: A Case Study of the Reception of ‘Heidi, Girl of the Alps’ in Iran. International workshop “Japanese Pop-Texts in Global Contexts.” National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka (2017.12.2). |
| 2017 | The Biota of the Imaginary (2): Global Distribution of Mermaid Imagery in Relation to the Habitat of Aquatic Animals. The 3rd Conference on Cultural History of PaleoAsia, National Museum of Ethnology, Japan, Osaka, Poster presentation (2017.5.13–14) (Proceedings, p. 88). |
| 2017 | The biota of the imaginary: Mantichora, its nomenclature and visualization. The 2nd Conference on Cultural History of PaleoAsia, Nagoya University Museum, Poster presentation (2017.2.12) (Proceedings, p.67). |
| 2016 | The biota of the imaginary: a comparative study on interrelation between ecosystems and the human imagination. The 1st Conference on Cultural History of PaleoAsia, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo (2016.12. 5–6) (Proceedings, p. 85). |
| 2013 | From Alexander to Iskandar: Alexander Traditions in the Islamic World. Conferencia patrocinada pola Cátedra Jean Monnet “A Cultura da Integración Europea,” Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), Spain. |
| 2012 | A Comparative Study of Mediaeval Marvel Literature in the Middle East and Europe. 9th Japanese-German Frontiers of Science Symposium, Potsdam, Germany (2012.10.28). |
| 2017 | Incredible India, the Land of Wonders in Persian ʿAjāʾib Literature, International Conference on Indo-Persian Studies, Academy of Persian Language and Literature, Tehran.(2017.2.19-2017.2.20) |
| 2017 | How to Uproot a Mandrake: Reciprocity of Knowledge in Medieval Europe, Middle East and China, International Colloquium, CULTURAL EXCHANGE IN THE MIDDLE AGES: FROM DIALOGUE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF CULTURES, Yamatobunka-kan, Nara. (2017.11.18-2017.11.19) |
| 2016 | At the Crossroads of Global Cultural History: from a ‘Far Eastern’ Perspective, XX1. Congress of the ICLA (International Comparative Literature Association), University of Vienna(2016.7.21-2017.7.27) |
| 2016 | Image of Europe through Japanese Animation: A Case Study of the Reception of “Heidi, Girl of the Alps” in Iran, Global Flow of Cultural Knowledge and their Afterlivews: Between Japan and the Middle East, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka. (2016.12.17-2016.12.18) |
| 2009 | “The Arabian Nights in Japanese Traditional Performing Arts.” The Arabian Nights: Encounters and Translations in Literature and the Arts, 15-17 December, New York University, Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi. |
| 2009 | “Birth of the Novel in Iran and Japan: A Comparative Study.” Societas Iranologica Europaea Mid-term Conference: How to Write the History of Modern Persian Literature– State-of-the-art Approaches and Perspectives, 10–12 July, Bamberg University, Germany. |
| 2009 | “The Tear Bottle Quest–European Perceptions of the Biblical Orient and Iranian Shiite Ritual.” Lecture Series: Mythen und Realitäten: Die Beziehungen zwischen Europa und dem Nahen Osten, 2 July, Center for Near and Middle East Studies, Marburg University, Germany. |
| 2008 | “Migrating Narratives: Fragments of the Islamized Alexander Romance in Chinese and Japanese Geographies and Encyclopaedias.” Workshop: Crossroads of Culture, Commerce, and Human Movement–Continental and Maritime Silk Routes Compared, 31 October–1 November, Marburg University, Germany. |
| 2008 | “D’Alexandre à Iskender ou la fortune du Roman d’Alexandre en Orient. (ms. Supplément Turc 635)” Trésors du patrimoine écrit, Bibliothèque nationale de France–Institut national du patrimoine, 3 June, Auditorium Colbert, Paris. |
| 2007 | “Imitatio Alexandri in Ghaznavid Panegyrics and Historiography.” 6th European Conference of Iranian Studies, Institute of Iranian Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, 18–22 September, Vienna, Austria. |
| 2007 | “Les modes de transmission du savoir: Alexandre le Grand et l’ évolution de l’ historiographie arabe.” “Les outils de la pensée: Étude comparative de «textes» et de leurs fonctions sociales.” 29 May, Fondation Maison des sciences de l’ homme-Minpaku, Paris. |
| 2007 | “Un héros aux mille et un visages: Classification des récits sur Alexandre dans la litterature médiévale arabe et persane.” Les Hommes et les recits: Reconnaître, classer, interpréter, 24–26 May, INALCO Fondation Singer-Polignac, Sorbonne-Paris IV, Paris, France. |
| 2007 | “Iskandar dar tavarikh-e Arabi va Farsi.” (Alexander in Arabic and Persian Historiography). International Symposium: Iranian Culture and Persian Literature (JSPS AA Science Platform Program), 6–7 January, Senri Life Science Center, Osaka. |
| 2006 | “Japanese Observations on Modernising Iran: Yoshida Masaharu’s Journey to Persia.” Sixth Biennial Conference of Iranian Studies School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), 3&#–5 August. |
| 2004 | “The Thousand and One Nights and the Automata: An Infinite Interplay of Science and Fiction.” Mille et une nuits en partage, 25–29 May, Paris, France. |
| 2003 | “Iskandar Dhu ’l-Qarnayn in the Persian Tales of the Prophets.” Fifth European Conference of Iranian Studies, 6–11 October. |
| 2002 | “Alexander, Lord of the Two Horns, in the Thousand and One Nights.” International Symposium: Arabian Nights and Orientalism in Resonance, 12–13 December, National Museum of Ethnology. |
| 2001 | “History and Kingship through the Looking Glass: A Comparative Study of Specula in Oriental and Occidental Literatures.”, 26–30 March. |
| 2000 | “Eskandar and the ’Ayyars: A 19th century Persian Popular Romance on Alexander.” Iranistik 2000: Aktuelle Trends iranistischer Forschung, 4–6 October, Otto-Friedrich-Universitat, Bamberg. |
| 2000 | “Eskandar and the ’Ayyars: A 19th century Persian Popular Romance on Alexander.” Iranistik 2000: Aktuelle Trends iranistischer Forschung, Otto-Friedrich-Universitat Bamberg, Germany. |
| 1999 | “Urban Space in Vision: Exploring the City of Brass in the Thousand and One Nights.” Ortsansichten–Raumbilder. Funktion und Reprasentanz von Raumen und Orten in Literaturen der islamischen Welt, Bamberg, Germany |
| 1999 | “The Eskandar-name of Manuchehr Khan Hakim: A 19th Century Persian Popular Romance on Alexander.” Societas Iranologica Europaea 4eme Conference Europeenne, Cite Universitaire, Paris. |
| 1999 | “Qajar Alexander Romance: The Kolleyat-e Haft jeldi-ye Eskandar-name.” Asian Federation for Middle East Studies Associations, Tokyo Keizai University, |
| 1998 | “The Ambiguous Image of Alexander the Great in the Shah-namah of Firdawsi: Traces of Sassanian Tradition, 27.” Deutscher Orientalistentag, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat, Bonn, Germany. |
| 1997 | “Ambiguité de l’image d’Alexandre chez Firdawsi-: les traces des traditions sassanides dans le Livre des Rois.” “La figure d’Alexandre le Grand dans les traditions medievales occidentales et proche-orientales.” Ministre de l’education nationale, de l’enseignement superieur et de la recherche, Universite de Paris III, Paris, France. |
| 1995 | “The Philosopher and the Wise King: Aristotle and Alexander the Great in Arabic and Persian Literature.” Comparative Literature in the Arab World, Cairo University, Egypt. |
| 1991 | “Persepolis Seen through Foreign Eyes.” Congress of the International Comparative Literature Association, Aoyama Gakuin Daigaku. |