'From Our Own Correspondent: Authorial Commentary on the "Spectacles of War" in Homer and in the Tale of the Heike'

Yamagata, Naoko (2015). 'From Our Own Correspondent: Authorial Commentary on the "Spectacles of War" in Homer and in the Tale of the Heike'. In: Bakogianni, Anastasia and Hope, Valerie M. eds. War as Spectacle: Ancient and Modern Perspectives on the Display of Armed Conflict. London: Bloomsbury, pp. 43–55.

URL: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/war-as-spectacle-9781...

Abstract

Literary representation of war and violence can and do excite the reader as 'spectator'. This raises moral questions such as whether or not such spectacles somehow 'corrupt' out mind. One possible area of mitigation of such influence on the reader is the commentary provided by the author. In the Iliad and the Tale of the Heike, a medieval Japanese epic, the author as our 'war correspondent' guides us through his commentary and shapes our view of the events described. The moral framework that emerges from these two worlds questions the value and meaning of war, aided by the authorial commentary.

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