Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney

Flowers That Kill

Communicative Opacity in Political Spaces

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney is the William F. Vilas Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin. She is the author of numerous books, including Illness and Culture in Contemporary Japan (7th printing in 1997) and Rice as Self: Japanese Identities Through Time (3rd printing in 1995), the editor of Culture Through Time (Stanford, 1991), and contributor to Golden Arches East (Stanford, 2006).

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Stanford University Press
• Seitenzahl: 296
• Erscheinungstermin: 12. August 2015
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 236mm x 156mm x 22mm
• Gewicht: 540g
• ISBN-13: 9780804794107
• ISBN-10: 0804794103
• Artikelnr.: 42799227

Autorenporträt

Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney is the William F. Vilas Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin. She is the author of numerous books, including Illness and Culture in Contemporary Japan (7th printing in 1997) and Rice as Self: Japanese Identities Through Time (3rd printing in 1995), the editor of Culture Through Time (Stanford, 1991), and contributor to Golden Arches East (Stanford, 2006).

Inhaltsangabe

Contents and Abstracts
Introduction: Opacity, Misrecognition, and Other Complexities of Symbolic
Communication
chapter abstract
As the animal considered closest to humans, the monkey is an important
symbol in Japanese culture. Its symbolism consists of three major themes:
mediator, scapegoat, and clown, each acquiring a dominant meaning in a
particular historical period, but all three always constituting a
palimpsest. As expressed in the monkey performance, its symbolism involves
a subversive element-against the stratification in medieval times, against
militarism at the height of Japan's imperial aggression, defiance against a
social superior, and questioning the throne on which humans sit, ruling
over all other animals. Yet, it never ignited a revolution or a social
protest, even when the monkey was symbolically associated with the
discriminated social group within which the monkey trainers were recruited,
precisely because the simultaneous presence of the multiplicity of its
meaning prevents any communicative clarity.
1Japanese Cherry Blossoms: From the Beauty of Life to the Sublimity of
Sacrificial Death
chapter abstract
The universe represented by Japanese cherry blossoms is full of paradoxes
that become a generative power operating at both individual and collective
level-simultaneously subverting and upholding the cultural and societal
structure. Cherry blossom viewing is an arena for developing the collective
identity of various social groups, and ultimately, the Japanese as a whole.
All, including the self, are beautiful. When the Japanese military state
foregrounded the symbolism of cherry blossoms to represent the sacrifice
for Japan, hardly anyone, including the soldiers, recognized the change.
The Japanese cherry blossoms offer an excellent example of how multiple
meanings of a symbol and their aesthetic contribute to the ambiguity and
opacity of communication through symbols.
2European Roses: From "Bread and Roses" to the Aesthetization of Murderers
chapter abstract
Like Japanese cherry blossoms, roses in Western European cultures are
assigned a large number of meanings: Christ and the Virgin, birth, death
and rebirth, love, beauty, life, joy and sorrow. As an important symbol of
the common people against the establishment, the rose occupied a central
place in the May Day festivals in medieval Europe, later leading to its
role in the festival of the French Revolution. At the end of the nineteenth
century, it became the symbol of the Socialist International. The rose as
an important symbol of love and comradeship among workers was then used and
abused to portray the dictator-Stalin and Hitler in particular-as the
benevolent "Father" who loves the people. This flower is another example of
how aesthetic and multiple meanings lead to the opacity of the message,
preventing people to see the thorns behind the beauty.
3The Subversive Monkey in Japanese Culture: From Scapegoat to Clown
chapter abstract
As the animal considered closest to humans, the monkey is an important
symbol in Japanese culture. Its symbolism consists of three major themes:
mediator, scapegoat, and clown, each acquiring a dominant meaning in a
particular historical period, but all three always constituting a
palimpsest. As expressed in the monkey performance, its symbolism involves
a subversive element-against the stratification in medieval times, against
militarism at the height of Japan's imperial aggression, defiance against a
social superior, and questioning the throne on which humans sit, ruling
over all other animals. Yet, it never ignited a revolution or a social
protest, even when the monkey was symbolically associated with the
discriminated social group within which the monkey trainers were recruited,
precisely because the simultaneous presence of the multiplicity of its
meaning prevents any communicative clarity.
4Rice and the Japanese Collective Self: Purity of Exclusion
chapter abstract
As the animal considered closest to humans, the monkey is an important
symbol in Japanese culture. Its symbolism consists of three major themes:
mediator, scapegoat, and clown, each acquiring a dominant meaning in a
particular historical period, but all three always constituting a
palimpsest. As expressed in the monkey performance, its symbolism involves
a subversive element-against the stratification in medieval times, against
militarism at the height of Japan's imperial aggression, defiance against a
social superior, and questioning the throne on which humans sit, ruling
over all other animals. Yet, it never ignited a revolution or a social
protest, even when the monkey was symbolically associated with the
discriminated social group within which the monkey trainers were recruited,
precisely because the simultaneous presence of the multiplicity of its
meaning prevents any communicative clarity.
5The Collective Self and Cultural/Political Nationalisms: Cross-Cultural
Perspectives
chapter abstract
As the animal considered closest to humans, the monkey is an important
symbol in Japanese culture. Its symbolism consists of three major themes:
mediator, scapegoat, and clown, each acquiring a dominant meaning in a
particular historical period, but all three always constituting a
palimpsest. As expressed in the monkey performance, its symbolism involves
a subversive element-against the stratification in medieval times, against
militarism at the height of Japan's imperial aggression, defiance against a
social superior, and questioning the throne on which humans sit, ruling
over all other animals. Yet, it never ignited a revolution or a social
protest, even when the monkey was symbolically associated with the
discriminated social group within which the monkey trainers were recruited,
precisely because the simultaneous presence of the multiplicity of its
meaning prevents any communicative clarity.
6The Invisible and Inaudible Japanese Emperor
chapter abstract
As the animal considered closest to humans, the monkey is an important
symbol in Japanese culture. Its symbolism consists of three major themes:
mediator, scapegoat, and clown, each acquiring a dominant meaning in a
particular historical period, but all three always constituting a
palimpsest. As expressed in the monkey performance, its symbolism involves
a subversive element-against the stratification in medieval times, against
militarism at the height of Japan's imperial aggression, defiance against a
social superior, and questioning the throne on which humans sit, ruling
over all other animals. Yet, it never ignited a revolution or a social
protest, even when the monkey was symbolically associated with the
discriminated social group within which the monkey trainers were recruited,
precisely because the simultaneous presence of the multiplicity of its
meaning prevents any communicative clarity.
7(Non-)Externalization of Religious and Political Authority/Power: A
Cross-Cultural Perspective
chapter abstract
As the animal considered closest to humans, the monkey is an important
symbol in Japanese culture. Its symbolism consists of three major themes:
mediator, scapegoat, and clown, each acquiring a dominant meaning in a
particular historical period, but all three always constituting a
palimpsest. As expressed in the monkey performance, its symbolism involves
a subversive element-against the stratification in medieval times, against
militarism at the height of Japan's imperial aggression, defiance against a
social superior, and questioning the throne on which humans sit, ruling
over all other animals. Yet, it never ignited a revolution or a social
protest, even when the monkey was symbolically associated with the
discriminated social group within which the monkey trainers were recruited,
precisely because the simultaneous presence of the multiplicity of its
meaning prevents any communicative clarity.