The citation of Playboy is as good as it will get. The main citation of the ninjer writers seems to be "That may not be literally true, but the abbot of our monastery always said that fable has strong shoulders that carry far more truth than fact can."
As for your quote, well, I'm a literature scholar by training, so I have some sympathy for that idea. I think it actually *could* be an interesting way to do 'ninja' history, thinking about how Iga and Koka's self-mythologization might be connected to deeper social currents in those communities. But if you're going to do that, obviously you have to be clear that that is what you are doing - presenting literal fiction as historical truth like the majority of ninja writers do isn't postmodern sophistication, it's just incompetence.
Mind you, the source was Barry Hughart in Bridge of Birds a self described novel "of an Ancient China that never was" and made no pretensions of being true
This absolute gem of a deep-dive had me hooked from the first drip of poison. A masterclass in how a single cinematic myth can thread its way through decades of fiction and fact. Also, bonus points for managing to cite Playboy in a peer-reviewed article with total academic legitimacy. Bravo!
Thanks! One of the fun things about this line of research is getting to revisit a bunch of stuff I read and watched in my mid-teens and think, "oh, so *that's* what was going on with that."
I actually found the issue of Playboy in question surprisingly difficult to get through academic channels. Normally I'd request a scan through InterLibrary Loan, but very few academic libraries have Playboy (or are willing to admit to having it in their collections). Ended up being a lot easier just to buy a copy on Ebay.
The citation of Playboy is as good as it will get. The main citation of the ninjer writers seems to be "That may not be literally true, but the abbot of our monastery always said that fable has strong shoulders that carry far more truth than fact can."
It's probably all downhill from here, isn't it?
As for your quote, well, I'm a literature scholar by training, so I have some sympathy for that idea. I think it actually *could* be an interesting way to do 'ninja' history, thinking about how Iga and Koka's self-mythologization might be connected to deeper social currents in those communities. But if you're going to do that, obviously you have to be clear that that is what you are doing - presenting literal fiction as historical truth like the majority of ninja writers do isn't postmodern sophistication, it's just incompetence.
Mind you, the source was Barry Hughart in Bridge of Birds a self described novel "of an Ancient China that never was" and made no pretensions of being true
This absolute gem of a deep-dive had me hooked from the first drip of poison. A masterclass in how a single cinematic myth can thread its way through decades of fiction and fact. Also, bonus points for managing to cite Playboy in a peer-reviewed article with total academic legitimacy. Bravo!
Thanks! One of the fun things about this line of research is getting to revisit a bunch of stuff I read and watched in my mid-teens and think, "oh, so *that's* what was going on with that."
I actually found the issue of Playboy in question surprisingly difficult to get through academic channels. Normally I'd request a scan through InterLibrary Loan, but very few academic libraries have Playboy (or are willing to admit to having it in their collections). Ended up being a lot easier just to buy a copy on Ebay.
I can just imagine trying to charge that to a federal grant! 😂 I mean it should be technically allowable but hoo-boy!