Tag Archives: discovery

Extra Credit Discovery Post

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For my extra credit discovery post, I chose the Sirena story from the Penguin Book of Mermaids. This story is based in Guam, and part of the Chamorro culture. I wanted to read this story because one of my closest friends is from Guam. This story is an important contribution to my learning in this class because of the different cultural perspective it provides through intergenerational oral traditions and curses. 

At the beginning of this tale, a scene is painted of a grand-mermaid spending time with her nieces. The two young mer-girls want to hear the story of how mermaids came around, and beg her to tell the tale even though they have heard it many times before. “An ancient grand-mermaid sits on top of her pearly throne, brushing her long white hair. Upon her lap perch two little mergirls, their sparkling tails twisting and twirling… ‘All right, sit down and behave. I’ll tell you the tale of Sirena,’ laughs the grand-mermaid. Looking at the two mergirls with their rapt eyes, she slowly nods. And so the story begins…” (p.234). This type of storytelling is important because it follows the route of oral storytelling, as opposed to written word. Often, oral storytelling is used to teach lessons, as it is in this story; it is a story about the importance of responsibility. In addition, oral storytelling is more common in indigenous cultures, and the Chamorro culture is an indigenous one. When I talked to my friend from Guam about this story, she immediately knew what I was talking about without me even mentioning the title, and said it’s a legend there, and that both her grandmother and mother told this story to her when she was growing up. She said there’s also a statue of Sirena on the island, which shows how important this tale is to Chamorro culture. 

Another important part of this tale is the use of curses. When Sirena does not keep up with her responsibilities, and her mother is left to do her chores, her mother becomes very upset. She curses Sirena, which shows the power that an elder holds, as well as consequences. “‘Sirena!’ Her mother’s face loomed out of the darkness. Her angry eyes burned with wrath. ‘Shame, shame, shame on you! Careless, idle child! Your own sister of six can do better! Shame, Sirena! I had to walk over to your auntie’s house myself for the breadfruit. Sirena, if you ever go in the water again, you will become an ugly, fat fish!’ her mother screamed. Sirena knelt trembling in a corner, her godmother’s hand on her shoulder. ‘No, please, no!” Sirena wailed when she heard her mother’s curse” (p.236). This is an origin tale of a mermaid, created by a curse. Even though Sirena’s mother says she will become “an ugly, fat fish”, Sirena transforms into a mermaid when she goes into the water next. Whether this is just a mishap of the curse, or nature being more forgiving than a human, is unclear. What I found most interesting about this passage was that her mother has this power to curse her child. I wonder if there is more respect for elders in Chamorro culture, like there is in some East Asian cultures (when compared to the U.S.). Does this respect give them the power to curse? Can they curse anyone? Or can they only curse their offspring? Since this is a legend on Guam, it also creates fear for the children who hear the story, who then feel they must be responsible children otherwise something similar may happen to them. 

DISCOVERY ASSIGNMENT: The Mermaid and Human Nature in The Lighthouse (2019)

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Robert Eggers’ 2019 film The Lighthouse follows two lighthouse keepers, Thomas Wake and Thomas Howard, who are stranded on a secluded island due to a severe storm. The movie’s narrative is presented from Howard’s point of view, and it explores themes like isolation and the fragile condition of human sanity. These concepts are accompanied by hallucination, including encounters with a mermaid and a man from his past. The film is rather avant garde: there are only two characters with spoken lines, it takes place in one location for a vast majority of the films runtime, and it’s shot with black and white film on a 1.19:1 aspect ratio – making the screen appear almost like a square. That all being said, The Lighthouse is more comparable to a novel than the run-of-the-mill suspense thriller film, which means the audience should look at the components of the narrative more for what they represent rather than what is actually being shown. Through editing and use of symbolism, the mermaid in The Lighthouse represents human nature and man’s inability to suppress it.

To understand the mermaid’s symbolic significance in the film, it is essential to define what the island represents to Howard. In a conversation with Wake, Howard reveals that he used to be a timber man on the American mainland, but he wanted to start fresh and earn a living as a “Wickie.” The script says, “Nothin’ wrong with a man startin’ fresh, lookin’ to earn a living… Soon enough, I’ll raise my own roof, somewheres up country, with no one to tell me ‘what for’…“ (Eggers Pg. 29-30). This statement alone implies that Howard feels the need to escape his past; add to that, the fact that Howard killed a man and took his identity previous to the events of the film – it is almost blatantly obvious that Howard being a lighthouse keeper is an attempt to distance himself from guilt. The island becomes a symbol of escapism.

There are two mermaids in The Lighthouse, one, a wooden figure, and the other being a seemingly real mermaid that washes up on the beach. The audience is introduced to the wooden mermaid relatively early in the film’s runtime, but it is not until near the end of the first act that Eggers presents the real mermaid. While Howard is out doing his chores on the island, he sees lumber floating off its shore. He goes to investigate it, and as it gets closer, the logs move and reveal the body of a bleach-blonde man (Ephraim Winslow). He approaches the body in a trance, and the tide rises, submerging him underneath the water. In the direction of where the man used to be, there is a mermaid in the depths – its face obscured by its hair and its screeching song muffled by the water’s density. This editing succeeds in establishing a thematic connection between the mermaid and Howard’s murdered or possibly fatally neglected ex-coworker. The two symbols do not exist independently from one another in the film – every time the audience is shown the mermaid, she closely follows the appearance of the late Ephraim Winslow.

The next significant appearance of the mermaid is during a scene where Howard attempts to pleasure himself, using the scrimshaw as inspiration. It seems like he has a really difficult time accomplishing this because his mind is clouded with thoughts of the white-haired Winslow. During this scene, three events are inter-spliced with one another: Howard matsurbating, Winslow dying (having been stabbed or shoved with a stake, and then drowned), and Howard engaging in sex with the mermaid. These events are cut together hastily, never spending too much time on one shot. His interaction with Winslow and the mermaid are happening simultaneously in his head, indicating that the two activities are equal to one another. On first viewing, it can be easy to assume that the editing in this scene is meant to show us that Howard is haunted by the action or inaction he committed on Winslow. However, the last thing Howard imagines before reaching climax is Ephraim Winslow sinking under a log. Having achieved his goal, he throws the wooden carving to the ground, breaks it, and wails like a wild animal in anguish. The editing of this sequence leaves little doubt that the death of Winslow is what peaked Howard’s arousal, underscoring his violent human nature and implying a disturbing sexualization of death. To Howard, killing Winslow and dominating the mermaid are on and the same, and the distress in his tone at the end of the scene is generated by his inability to escape his own depravity.

The last place where the mermaid is utilized as a symbol of human nature is in the last act of the film when Howard and Wake get into a fist fight over the old man’s ledger. Wake calls Howard a dog, a term used earlier in the film by Howard as he recounted the death of Winslow to Wake – “but Winslow that goddamned Canady fool bastard… always callin’ me a dog. A filthy dog.” (Eggers Pg. 51). In response to Wake’s insult, Howard attacks him and the two wrestle around the lighthouse’s living quarters until Howard looks at Wake and sees a hallucination of Winslow. He mounts the old man, still seeing Winslow, who lands a punch on him, staggering him. When he looks down again, Winslow is replaced by the mermaid – who caresses his neck before strangling him and turning into Wake again, but this time with a crown of barnacles and brine and a set of tentacles. 

Because of the rapid pace at which this scene unfolds, the audience is presented with a great deal of visual information to process and evaluate in a brief period of time. Howard is reminded of his earlier aggressions by Wake’s calling him a “dog,” and his desire for violence is promoted by the alluring image of the mermaid. This is similar to the situation in the two examples that came before it, in which the mermaid did not appear until after Winslow is present in Howard’s psyche. The fact that Howard is able to see the mermaid while he is impulsively beating Wake is a clear sign that he is taking pleasure in this assault.

The most astounding aspect of The Lighthouse is Eggers’ ability to establish Howard’s murderous intent without using words. Although it is logical to believe that Howard was responsible for Winslow’s death because he stole his name and identity, Howard never acknowledges this in the film, and he is not required to do so. From the time the mermaid appears on screen – when Howard discovers the body in the sea – it achieves its goal of establishing a link between Howard and death without disclosing the specifics of that relationship. In the scrimshaw scene, the spectator can deduce that Howard is responsible for Winslow’s death. Winslow’s death is practically a fantasy for Howard, heightening his excitement. Finally, in the fist fight scene, Howard unwittingly admits to killing Winslow. He sees the mermaid in front of him; she appears genuine to him at that moment, and he indulges in his inner darkness. His reaction to the mermaid shatters any doubt that Howard is a violent human being. Thomas Howard’s story in The Lighthouse is jam packed with mystery. In the end, he wasn’t able to escape the violence embedded within him – and although most people aren’t secretly evil like Howard, the feeling of not being able to escape your negative traits is a widely human experience. It is easy to say the past is in the past, but without taking the right steps to take accountability and improve, these undesirable features remain dormant until provoked. The mermaid shows the audience that running away is not the answer to moving past trauma or consequences, and that human nature prevails if left neglected.

The Siren and The Fisherman-Inescapable Temptation as a Religious Rebellion

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Literature extends far beyond hardcover books and represents itself across multiple media including artwork. Artwork has been used for centuries to communicate and share messages of the time and additionally serves as a timestamp of opinions, teachings, and knowledge. Knut Ekwall’s, “The Fisherman and the Siren,” 1858, extends a compelling story that demonstrates the intensity of male desire and the inescapable consequences of yielding to temptation through a religious lens. During this time Luthern was the key religion in Sweden, where they believed that God would not allow his people to be tempted, and if he did he would save them, although God does not save the man in the painting. Ekwall utilizes the circle as a focal point, where everything from the water currents, the clouds, and even the figures themselves are based on a circular and revolving motion. These circular-based composition and imagery techniques used in the painting serve to demonstrate his cautionary lesson about the continuous loop of dangers involved in succumbing to the allure of forbidden desires. This painting is a religious rebellion that focuses on circularity and showcases the inevitable repetitive nature of desire/ temptation and the consequences that even God cannot save you from. 

In this painting, the fisherman is facing a moral dilemma as he fails to avoid the temptation of the Siren and succumbs to the power of her knowledge and voice. This failure to disregard temptation and the soon-to-be failure to survive is underlined with defiance towards the religion at the time, as Ekwall projects the anti-Luteran belief that God will not always provide a savior. Knut Ekwall depicts the exact moment after temptation strikes as the man is unwillingly being dragged beneath the water, reaching for an opportunity to save himself from his mistake. His hope for refuge is demonstrated in the straining of his arms which form a half circle on the outer layers of the whirlpool, that seeks to overtake him. With his arms in a half-circle shape and the position of his body, as being partially consumed by the Ocean, the painting showcases that he has not reached the totality of the endless temptation cycle. He reaches out but there is nothing to hold onto; at this moment his faith has left him, and powers that want to take him down are the only things left for him to reach for. This is Knut Ekwall’s rebellion in the form of circularity, the depiction of an endless cycle with vanishing hope for a man and his desires, circling one another down into death.  

In terms of positionality, the two figures’ bodies are wrapped around one another, as the Siren’s arms wrap around his underarms and her body swirls around him, where he is trapped underneath her. The concept of his body not just being within the water but being underneath her provides him no escape, where his only choice is to fall into the endless circle and into the depths of the ocean. Her hair becomes the water and begins its circulation of his body in movement with the water that seeks to overtake him. The swirling of the water begins to turn into a dangerous whirlpool that is unavoidable for the fisherman. She remains in control and floats gracefully above the water, luring him further and further into his death, where she grabs at his body as if she is attempting to release him from his grasp for safety. The position of their bodies in this encapsulating motion is critical to the argument which demonstrates the repetitive nature of desire and how powerless one is in the face of “successful” temptation. There is a contrast in how the beings connect to one another; the fisherman avoids her gaze as he is still attempting to find hope and the Siren fixes her eyes onto him showcasing her dominance and power, as she has won. 

The color choices in the artwork add additional evidence to highlight the rebellious argument of the circulatory-based behavior of temptation. The color of the fisherman’s shirt blends into the deep blue/grey colors of the water and the viewer is unable to see his lower half, as it has been submerged. The water slowly owns him and becomes a relic of its possession, as his body loses its separation from the dangerous ocean. This is highly contrasted in the way the Siren is depicted with her idyllic beauty and pale skin color, separating her from the water, and placing it above its grasp. Due to the contrasting colors, the Siren immediately becomes the main focus, which then leads the eye to the circular patterns in the water, then continuously wields the fisherman to his death. Her vibrant hair follows this circular pattern demonstrating the power she possesses within the water and her ability to control it, in contrast to the fisherman’s inability to avoid it. Her nude body alludes even more to the idea of temptation and the power of a woman to tempt a man, even to the extent of his death. By creating a juxtaposition between the idyllic beauty of the siren with the eery landscape, Ekwall develops an inescapable environment of danger that warns viewers that God may not save them from the tempting dangers within the Ocean. 

Ekwall’s painting holds a central claim that warns viewers that the pursuit of forbidden desires leads to inevitable destruction, and further cautions that God is incapable of saving one from such temptations. Ultimately, Ekwall’s “The Fisherman and the Siren”, 1858,  is a religious rebellion against the Luthern church and a defiance of the idea of God as a savior. Through his portrayal of the fisherman’s inner and physical struggle cast against the backdrop of the seas and Sirens, Ekwall highlights the destructive nature of succumbing to desires that have the potential to lead individuals to their deaths. This painting is a timeless reminder and warning of the importance of exercising restraint and resistance in the face of forbidden temptations.

DISCOVERY

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Giselle Lee Hosler

4/14/24

ECL 305

Professor Pressman

Most mermaid stories tell of the “maids”, female monsters appealing to male heroes. However, The Pisces subverts this expectation, with the main character Lucy encountering merman Theo, who subverts the expectation of the standard mermaid-human man tropes- the merman is the one who seduces Lucy, he is the one who tempts her, and he is the one that enlightens her to parts about herself that she didn’t know about. This subversion of the tropes breaks many of the normal mermaid conventions and allows for people to move away from them while embracing newer and more positive (in some ways) stories. 

Our protagonist, Lucy, is a 38 year old woman who is having her midlife crisis early. While housesitting for her sister, she discovers Theo, a swimmer she eventually discovers is a bonafide merman. In the midst, she’s been going on unsuccessful dates with other men and grappling with a support group for single women, so she’s unsure of what she wants. The Pisces is an unconventional love story unlike many of the other mermaid tales before it, like the Little Mermaid and Melusina, who have the mermaid, the female figure, suffer for love and eventually die in some cases. 

When Lucy discovers Theo, she regains some more zest for life, though she still struggles with some parts of herself. Through many encounters with him, Lucy comes to grips about aspects of her life, and how she can move forward from having a break up, going to a weird support group for desolate women, and ultimately her attitude and approach to life in general. 

It is relevant that Theo is a merman because not only does it subvert the trope, it also exposes the truth that women are not always the seducers- Theo is the one who tempts Lucy to be curious about him and discover what he can offer her. In other mermaid and mermaid-adjacent mythology, it is the female figure that seduces, who offers the knowledge to the curious male figure. In this way, the sexuality of men is explored much more. And it is often the female figure that gets neglected in the process. 

Not to mention, that the being of nature is a man, not a woman. Nature is often feminized, and the mermaid is no exception. But in The Pisces, Theo is a merman, the being of nature is masculine. Instead of being the conquerer, as the human men in mermaid tales are often portrayed, he is the conquered. He is not the taught, he is the teacher. We don’t see that often in mermaid tales, especially ones written in the past. 

Of course, The Pisces is not the only merman-centered merstory out there. We have much older examples, such as Oannes, a merman-like figure who also brought enlightenment. Having these examples allows for us to see and understand that our preconceived notions about mermaids and merpeople in general are not the end-all be-all. It also helps us acknowledge that many of the stereotypes of the mermaid are merely just constructs of a patriarchal society, meant to keep women in a box. 

While Lucy struggles with herself and with others, she eventually comes to realize some of her wants. While she is tempted by Theo, she ultimately manages to pull away from him and prevent herself from meeting the same fate as other women before her- and the fates of other mermaids in previous folklore- dying for her male love interest. In that she shows that women do not have to suffer or put themselves at risk for the sake of what men want. 

Within the deviation of The Pisces, there are still some parts that are continuous with regular mermaid stories- that is, that the merperson attempts to cross the boundary between land and sea in order to be with their partner. His otherness is apparent, and it becomes something of a reoccurring thing between him and Lucy, but really it is to be expected from a mermaid tale. These elements of the story keep it from escaping the true mermaid tale and becoming something else entirely. 

The merperson is a monster, regardless of gender. The way that gender roles interact with one another, between monster and human, between earth and sea, impacts the lessons they teach to the readers of the present and the future. Male monsters in a female dominated genre, meant to be a sort of warning to female readers… that sort of deviance from the norm does so much for breaking established gender roles within the merperson as a concept. 

Having stories like the Pisces, stories that are unconventional and turn tropes on their head, allows for a better look at the societies and cultures who tell these stories. The Little Mermaid, Melusina, and other similar tales are a product of their times and standards. The Pisces, while more modern, has some elements of those stories while deviating from the stereotypes that make mermaid tales so iconic. It, like the many different tales before it, is a product of its time and has much to teach its readers. 

Discovery – Hidden Stories

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Karina Garcia 

Jessica Pressman

ECL 301

14 April 2024

Hidden Stories

In the short film The Water Will Carry Us Home by Gabrielle Tesfaye shows the demonstration of how selected stories portray what is known to be history. Tesfaye conveys this message through the use of stop motion art which is able to produce a story. This is significant as it shows a side of history that is not told or paid more attention to and it also shapes viewers thinking about the history that is already known. 

One of the first scenes that sets up for more thinking to take place is at 2 minutes and continues until 2 minutes and 20 seconds. In this section there is a man who is entrusted with the key almost as if he’s the only beholder in this story, and with this key he is able to unlock a never before seen or heard of story. The man seems to be portrayed as someone important or a powerful being to be trusted with this key, dressed in all white with two eyes on his hands, accompanied by only a rooster instead of a human, the key is able to jump and move around his body in order to unlock a singular story from the many that were portrayed on the wall. The key shows a way in which there are beings that are able to hide or make visible stories about the ocean but it’s a “pick and choose” which they believe should be told. The man in this story is Yoruba Orishas and in the southwest Nigerian culture orishas are “other more minor”gods ” or”spirits ” (Ogunniyi, 2022). This plays a significant role in knowing who this man is as he is now serving a purpose to the storytelling as he is presented to have great authority and power for those who are listening.  

Another section in which goes to show how stories are being portrayed is at 1 minute and 30 seconds when Yoruba Orisha is first being presented and behind him there is a wall of locks in which can be assumed to be untold stories. On the wall behind him there are multiple locks of all shapes and sizes and are spread out all across the wall; it’s hard to say how many locks there are if the viewer was only able to see a selected amount. The main lock that is being unlocked is to show the story of the Middle Passage with African American slaves being transported by ship to show the origin of how African American mermaids came to be. A single story is being told which can only leave curiosity to peak and wonder if there are more stories like such. Discovering these singular stories lets more questions arise as to what other stories are not being told today, it opens and pushes for new questions and further curiosity to be asked as to which stories have not been told yet? Which stories are credible or not? Which stories are being hidden away from society? And why does this happen?

Finally as the story is coming to an end at 5 minutes and 57 seconds, the door is closing and the lock is coming into play to close up the story for good the key is back in play but has never left Yoruba Orisha. After the entire story being told about the origin of African American mermaids is one of the first times in history that these kinds of mermaids are presented, Tesfaye is able to do so with the use of stop motion animation to attract the attention of viewers. The key continues to be a significant factor into this story that is being told and shows which are still being concealed. The ending of the film also leaves a sense of mystery as to now know what’s the next story that will be told and have the question of how many stories are still out there that are not being told. Tesfaye is able to spark the curiosity of viewers into questioning the history that they learned and to be more open about learning new history that will be able to change what they already know. 

Many cultures today around the world all have stories that define and make up their society, but not all are being told due to a number of reasons. Without these stories being told it is shaping history to be portrayed one way, shaping minds to think one way, and to also conceal controversial aspects of history. This film by Gabrielle Tesfaye is clearly depicting otherwise, it is showing the hidden part of history that is being neglected and not taken into account as it is going against what fits the criteria for “history”. The Water Will Carry Us Home is able to convey the otherwise of what has already been taught of history, the ugly and more brutal part that shows the original “heroes” as doing more harm than good. 

Work Cited

https://theconversation.com/a-long-view-sheds-fresh-light-on-the-history-of-the-yoruba-people-in-west-africa-162776#:~:text=The%20Yoruba%20are%20among%20the,history%20have%20attracted%20numerous%20studies.

https://guardian.ng/life/yoruba-mythology-the-orishas-of-the-yoruba-race

Midterm Assignment: Japanese Mermaids

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Sophia Fugazzotto 

ECL 305 

Professor Pressman 

March 2nd, 2024

Japanese Tales: The Mermaid 

During the latter half of the 19th century, Japan made the transition from a feudal military country to a colonial power under the Meiji Era. Along with the adoption of Western ideas came the industrialization of the country (“A Brief History”). The Meiji Era ushered in coal and chemical plants, mills, refineries, copper mines, and pollutants (Seagrove 2). These new technologies brought new language too–the coining of the word “kogai” which Seagrove (1) describes as “industrial pollution that damages human health and the environment” (p.1). Despite the awareness of the negative environmental costs of industrialization, Japan continued to prioritize economic development as they gained global power. In the Japanese tale The Mermaid, the middle-aged man’s decision to release the mermaid reflects this human-first attitude adopted during the industrial revolution in the 1890s. 

The Mermaid follows the story of a middle-aged man who lives by himself, having never married. When fishing one day, the man catches a mermaid. On page 206 of The Penguin Book of Mermaids, the passage reads: “ ‘Desinit in piscem mulier formosa superne.’ The mermaid’s face was tearful, for the hook was in her cheek, and there was also the shame of being forcibly dragged out of her native element; and the angler was a man of tender heart” (p. 206). The strong use of imagery in this quote, of the hook in the cheek and forcible dragging, represents the strong hand of the Japanese in trying to conquer the environment through technological advances. The usage of the phrase “native element” also reveals the use of a mermaid as a symbol for the environment, and the relationship between this man and mermaid represents interactions between Japanese and the environment. The Latin words, at the beginning of this quote, and presumably stated by the man, loosely translates to ‘the beautiful woman ends in a fish’s tail’. The structure of this sentence (and in the quotation) reveals how he sees the mermaid as a human first, and then secondly an element of nature, reflecting the human-first frame of mind this story was written in. 

The man then contemplates what to do with the mermaid. The way that he ponders about what to do with her represents the commercialization of the environment that Japan was undergoing: “Gently extracting the hook from her jaws, he held her in his hands and meditatively speculated on the money which he could gain by selling her to an itinerant exhibition, or the long life which he might obtain by eating her flesh” (p.206) Many new technologies, such as power plants and mines were sources of economic gain from the environment in Japan. Not only does this quote represent commercialization and the commodification of nature, but it also illustrates the tensions in the transitional period that the Meiji Era brought. Choosing to sell the mermaid to an exhibition may have resulted from the newfound international trade brought in by the new era, while eating the mermaid comes from a Japanese belief involving immortality, and is more connected to the traditional eras of Japan. The man’s struggle between this choice represents the economic tug of war between an isolated, feudal Japan and the new, colonial Japan that was developing. In addition, the imagery of the man holding her in his hands contributes to the idea of Japan dominating and controlling nature, through how small and powerless it makes her appear.

Despite the two initial choices presented, the man decides to release the mermaid back into the water. However, his reasoning behind the release is not of respect for nature, or pity. The author states: “But his soul revolted at the thought of eating this fair creature, that whimpered and cried like a human being, and so after another long gaze he threw it back into the waves, when the mermaid, waving its grateful adieux, speedily dived out of sight” (p.206). The man does not choose to release the mermaid for any reason but that it reminds him of himself. This reflects the human-first attitude that the Meiji Era brought as it prioritized human advancement over preservation and respect for the environment. Had the mermaid not “whimpered and cried like a human being”, the man would not have returned her to the water, and would have made the choice between selling or eating her. Although the text describes the man as “a man of tender heart”, it seems his tenderness only extended to those who look and act like himself, not to all living beings in the world. This description of the mermaid also reflects how nature is at the mercy of the industrialization of Japan, since the man is the one in control. The mermaid’s gratefulness also contributes to this power dynamic. 

Interestingly enough, this tale was published in English in a magazine in Tokyo. This decision to use the English language, as opposed to Japanese, may be another hint toward the Westernization of Japan at this time–as many citizens were sent to Europe to learn about how their country operated. Whether this story can be considered propaganda for the government and modernization, or perhaps a tale created from integration of European ideas and the story of Melusine, is unknown, but it does comment on many concepts of the Meiji Era–of modernization, power, transition. This developmental era in Japan’s history brought about much change for all of Japan, and this tale is an important representation of the attitudes toward nature in Japan during the Meiji Era.

Works Cited

Bacchilega, Cristina. Penguin Book of Mermaids. Penguin Publishing Group, 2019. 

Japan, Heartland. “A Brief History of Japan from the Late 19th Century to the Early 20th 

Century. – Heartland Japan.” Heartland Japan – Your Gateway to the Heartland of Japan. 

Heartland Japan Offers Unforgettable Experiences for Walking, Cycling, Hiking, and 

More., 15 Jan. 2024, 

heartlandjapan.com/a-brief-history-of-japan-from-the-late-19th-century-to-the-early-20th

-century/#:~:text=Throughout%20the%201870s%20and%20reaching,without%20benefit

ing%20the%20common%20folk. Accessed 02 Mar. 2024. 

Seagroves, Amy, “Environmental History of Japan” (2009). Student Theses 2001-2013. 69. 

https://fordham.bepress.com/environ_theses/69