Date of Award
Spring 4-14-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
May 2026
Department
English
College Granting Degree
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Department Granting Degree
English
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Stacey Balkan
Abstract
This thesis makes a two-part argument. Firstly, I show how the Heian Era Japanese aesthetic, mono no aware inspires an affective connection of the perceiver to the environment when viewed through the full range of emotion as Motoori Norinaga intended. Through the story of Urashima Taro, the Fisher Lad, I explain how mono no aware can inspire rhetorical action and long-term responsibility to kinship. I examine Yei Theodora Ozaki’s 1903 version of Urashima Taro to provide an overview of the Tale and Keigo Seki’s 1963 as an expansion of it that details a more positive ending for the protagonist. Subsequently, Seki’s version illustrates rhetorical action in the form of dance as a result of the Urashima’s experience of mono no aware. This dance, called “tsurukame,” is a popular Noh Performance, to which I argue in the context of the story, symbolizes the longevity of responsibility to the world as one understands that they are affectively part of the environment around them.
Recommended Citation
Martin, Rachel, "THE CRANE AND THE TURTLE DANCE: EXPLORING MONO NO AWARE, NATURE, AND ONTOLOGY IN THE STORY OF URASHIMA TARO, THE FISHER LAD" (2026). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 319.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general/319