Nihonjinron: Žanr ali ideologija? : rethinking Nihonjinron

Finderle, Lana (author), Visočnik, Nataša (mentor)

Z leti se je koncept nihonjinron razvil v splošnega izraza, ki se nanaša na vse, kar je narobe s povojnimi japonskimi študijami. Nihonjinron je vrsta pisanja, ki se ukvarja z japonsko identiteto, in je pogosto tarča kritikov, ki trdijo, da nihonjinron poudarja japonsko homogenost in edinstvenost, da bi podprl tezo o japonski superiornosti. Ideja, da je nihonjinron v resnici vrsta ideologije, ki je edinstvena za Japonsko, se je uveljavila v osemdesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja, ko so kritiki nihonjinron začeli opisovati kot civilno religijo, kulturni nacionalizem ali sistem družbenega nadzora. Sčasoma je to pripeljalo do tega, da je nihonjinron v glavah mnogih ljudi postal sinonim za etnični šovinizem, rasizem, ksenofobijo in sorodne pojave. Danes je ta novi, negativni pomen besede »nihonjinron« skoraj prehitel njen prvotni pomen, ki je bil »vsaka razprava ali pisno delo v zvezi s temo Japoncev«. V tej študiji bom trdila, da takšno enačenje nihonjinrona z ideologijo daje napačen vtis o tem, kaj nihonjinron dejansko predstavlja. Z analizo »Chrysanthemum and the Sword« avtorice Ruth Benedict in »Japanese Society« avtorice Chie Nakane, bom pokazala, da večina tem in stališč, ki jih običajno povezujemo z nihonjinronom, izhaja iz družbenih teorij, razvitih na zahodu, in ne iz kakšne ideologije, ki je edinstvena za Japonsko. Poleg tega bom tudi trdila, da ni res, da se nihonjinron ukvarja izključno z japonskimi močmi in superiornostjo. Kot bomo videli v analizi Benedict in Nakane, nihonjinron tudi obravnava japonske slabosti, in namesto da bi branil status quo, kot se ji pogosto očita, on tudi raziskuje, kako se lahko japonska družba izboljša in kaj se lahko Japonska nauči od drugih držav.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Nihonjinron, ideologije, japonologija, povojno obdobje
• Work type: Bachelor thesis/paper
• Typology: 2.11 - Undergraduate Thesis
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Place of publishing: Ljubljana
• Publisher: L. Finderle
• Year: 2024
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-166145
• UDC: 316.75(520)(043.2)
• COBISS.SI-ID: 220385027
• Publication date in RUL: 21.12.2024

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Genre or Ideology? Rethinking Nihonjinron : diplomsko delo

Abstract

Over the past few decades, the word “Nihonjinron” has evolved into something of a blanket term for everything believed to be wrong in Japanese studies. A media genre dealing broadly with the topic of Japanese identity, Nihonjinron has enjoyed considerable popularity both inside and outside Japan, but it has also attracted criticism for dabbling in certain ideologically loaded notions like Japanese uniqueness and racial homogeneity. Equating Nihonjinron with a particular strain of ideological thinking became common in the 1980s, and numerous attempts were made in this period to redefine the genre along the lines of civil religion, cultural nationalism, or even as a method of social control. As a result, notions like ethnic chauvinism, xenophobia, and racism all gradually came to be seen as part and parcel of the kind of thinking promoted in standard Nihonjinron content. In this study, I will argue that equating Nihonjinron with any particular ideological commitment is a misrepresentation of the genre, which encompasses a much wider variety of perspectives than such a definition would suggest. Through a general analysis of The Chrysanthemum and the Sword by Ruth Benedict and Japanese Society by Nakane Chie, I will also show that many of the theories and perspectives typically associated with Nihonjinron have roots in social theories developed by Western thinkers, rather than in any ideological orientation of the Japanese themselves.

• Keywords: Nihonjinron, ideology, Japanese studies, postwar