Japan and the Cosmopolitan Gothic

Blouin, Michael J.

doi:10.1057/9781137305220

Cited by 3 publications

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“…At the same time, innovative cultural studies scholars can use specters as a key interpretive concept in post-colonial and inter-cultural analyses (e.g. Blouin, 2013;Brogan, 1998). Meanwhile, Derrida's (1994) talk of specters, apparitions, and 'hauntology' continues to ripple out from philosophy into the humanities more broadly (Davis, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A social anthropology of ghosts in twenty-first-century America

Baker

Bader

2014

Social Compass

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Although belief in ghosts or analogous concepts is prevalent cross-culturally, including in contemporary Western cultures, social scientific treatments of spirit belief and experience often dismiss such views as superstitious, or overlook this dimension of culture completely. Using mixed methods, we examine ghost belief, experience, and media consumption, as well as the practice of 'ghost hunting' in the United States. Results from a national survey demonstrate that these beliefs and practices are common and concentrated strongly among younger generations of Americans, especially moderately religious 'dabblers.' Fieldwork with multiple groups centered on 'hunting' ghosts reveals several notable themes, including rhetorical appeals to both science and religion, magical rites, the extensive use of technology to mediate evidence and experiences of ghosts, and the narrative construction of hauntings. We argue that the inherent liminality of spirits as cultural constructs accounts for their persistence, power, and continual recurrence. RésuméBien que la croyance liée aux fantômes ou à des concepts analogues est courante dans de nombreuses cultures, y compris les cultures occidentales contemporaines, les traitements sociaux et scientifiques qui lui sont réservés la relèguent au rang de CompassBaker and Bader: A social anthropology of ghosts in twenty-first-century America research-article2014 Article at TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY on December 2, 2014 scp.sagepub.com Downloaded from 570 Social Compass 61 (4) superstition, ou la négligent complètement en tant que dimension culturelle. Employant des méthodes variées, les auteurs examinent des croyances en la présence de fantômes, des expériences personnelles, la consommation médiatique, ainsi que l'exercice de « la chasse aux fantômes » aux États-Unis. Les résultats d'une enquête nationale démontrent que ces croyances et ces exercices sont communs et concernent les générations les plus jeunes d'Américains, particulièrement des « dilettantes » modérément religieux. Le travail de terrain consacré à la chasse aux fantômes parmi de multiples groupes révèle plusieurs thèmes notables tels que des appels rhétoriques à la science ainsi qu'à la religion, des rites liés à la magie, une utilisation extensive de la technologie pour négocier l'évidence et l'expérience des fantômes, et une construction narrative des apparitions. Les auteurs soutiennent que la liminalité inhérente aux spectres, considérés comme construction culturelle, explique leur persistance, leur pouvoir, et leur récurrence continuelle.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A social anthropology of ghosts in twenty-first-century America

Baker

Bader

2014

Social Compass

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“The Dead Place”: Cosmopolitan Gothic in Penny Dreadful’s London

Phillips

2023

Palgrave Studies in Adaptation and Visual Culture

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Camera Men: Techno-orientalism in Two Acts

McKay¹

2017

J. Am. Stud.

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During the years of Japan's “bubble” economy, writers and artists in the United States became increasingly susceptible to “Japan-bashing,” a discourse that objectified Japanese for their trade practices, overseas purchases, and tourist presence. In the following article, I draw upon a range of cultural texts, from Truman Capote's novella Breakfast at Tiffany's to Michael Crichton's novel Rising Sun, in order to investigate how the trope of the camera-toting Japanese expatriate encapsulated the fears of the era. I then move to explore the ways in which Japanese Americans negotiated these tropes in their writings, paying particular attention to Ruth Ozeki's novel My Year of Meats. I hypothesize that Japanese Americans remained aware of the phenomenon of “Japan-bashing” throughout the era, yet did not confront it in a sustained fashion. Instead, tropes were either dismissed out of hand or, as in Ozeki's case, incorporated into a narrative before undergoing a process of gradual dismantlement.

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Japan and the Cosmopolitan Gothic

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

A social anthropology of ghosts in twenty-first-century America

A social anthropology of ghosts in twenty-first-century America

“The Dead Place”: Cosmopolitan Gothic in Penny Dreadful’s London

Camera Men: Techno-orientalism in Two Acts

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