<論文>The Imagined West and Modern Japan

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to reconsider the concept Occidentalism. In doing so first, I will examine what is expressed by this concept, and what the effectiveness of studying Occidentalism is, contrasting it with its assumed counter-concept Orientalism. Orientalism by Edward Wadie Said threw light on the problematic issue of representations that the West used for controlling the Orient. Since publishing Orientalism in 1978, his theory has established a systematic perspective in the academic world. Innumerable studies based on his theory have been published. However, what I intend to do in this paper is to point out fields that tend to be overlooked by studies based on Said's theory, and to suggest possibilities for introducing another perspective of Occidentalism. Occidentalism as well as Orientalism both refer to biased representation. However, Occidentalism does not exist as a symmetrical counterpart to Orientalism. Instead, Occidentalism exists as strategies devised by subordinate people for surviving in the hegemonic power balance. The main point is that whereas Orientalism is an often subconscious strategy suitable for administrative purposes, Occidentalism is a conscious political strategy for surviving, and if possible reconstructing, an unfavorable international situation involving the overcoming of cultural boundaries. Occidentalism often appears as a creative process. Secondly, I will analyze the characteristics of Occidentalism in modern Japanese society. The reason for doing so lies in that modern Japan is often said to be a society which strived to become a Western country more purely and extremely than real Western societies. In such a society, West as representations had complicated and ambivalent characters which could not be reduced to either admiring or hating. Thus, various devices or strategies appeared, such as Wakon-Yousai (=Japanese spirit combined with Western learning). These various kinds of feelings and patterns of adaptation pushed modernization smoothly, and, on the other hand, gave birth to some reactions, such as Japanese Romantic School, Kyoto School, and Ultranationalism. In the latter part of this paper, I try to point out some of the characteristics of Occidentalism in modern Japanese society.