Of Roots and Race : Discourses of Body and Place in Japanese Taiko Drumming
This article examines the relationships among body, place, and identity in contemporary Japan through an analysis of the aesthetic discourse of taiko drumming. Employing the concept of habitus, the article focuses on the body as an important means through which discourses of national and local identity are constructed in Japan. On the one hand, taiko aesthetics invert a perceived sense of physical `inferiority` many Japanese feel towards foreigners by emphasizing the close connection between stereotypically Japanese bodies and Japanese culture. On the other hand, this same aesthetic discourse creates an opposition by which the inhabitants of Japan`s rural periphery are imagined to embody a deeper relationship to local culture than cosmopolitan urbanites can ever achieve. Thus, while in the first place, a sense of national identity emerges out of the appeal to racial similarities, taiko aesthetics ultimately fragment this unity by emphasizing just as strongly rooted distinctions in regional differences.See, look at them clapping their hands, gazing up at the sky, smiling and singing (a non-Japanese song). Now look at us doing ky[omacr ]gen. Our shoulders rigid and our legs tucked underneath us in seiza (formal sitting position). Our hands clenched, resting on our laps. Our eyes fixed on the earth beneath us. Our voices low and guttural. We drive our words into the dirt; we don`t lift our hands up and smile at Heaven. Your god (kami) is in the sky, right? Our spirits are in the ground, you see. That`s cultural difference (bunka ga chigau yo)...that`s cultural difference.-assistant ky[omacr ]gen instructor, Kodo Apprentice Program, contrasting two groups of apprentices
Year of publication: |
[2010]
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Authors: | BENDER, Shawn |
Publisher: |
[2010]: [S.l.] : SSRN |
Subject: | Japan | Rasse | Race |
Description of contents: | Abstract [papers.ssrn.com] |
Saved in:
Extent: | 1 Online-Ressource |
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Type of publication: | Book / Working Paper |
Language: | English |
Notes: | In: Social Science Japan Journal, Vol. 8, Issue 2, pp. 197-212, 2005 Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments October 2005 erstellt Volltext nicht verfügbar |
Source: | ECONIS - Online Catalogue of the ZBW |
Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012760773
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