Call for Papers for the Annual Conference of the German Association for Social Science Research on Japan (VSJF), November 26 – 28, 2010 in Frankfurt / Main, Germany)
The next annual conference of the German Association for Social Science Research on Japan (VSJF) is scheduled for November 26 to 28, 2010 in Frankfurt / Main Germany with the subject "Cultural Power Japan – Impact and Intellectual Dimensions“.
"Cultural Power Japan – Impact and Intellectual Dimensions“
The global success of Japanese cultural products and the worldwide presence of “J-lifestyles” have become commonly known as the “Cool Japan”-phenomenon. The boom of the “big J” is a timely research topic of the international Japanese Studies community and has been discussed previously on conferences in Paris (2007), Berlin (2007 and 2008), Frankfurt (2008) and Tokyo (2008 and 2009). Iwabuchi Kôichi, Anne Allison and Susan Napier, to name just a few participants in the discussion, have addressed the question of interpreting Japan’s reputation as a “cultural super power”. Due to the manifold aspects of the cultural power concept the discussion is still ongoing. Furthermore the search for new meta-theories and a more detailed analysis of already existing theories on Japan’s popular culture on a global level is still in demand.
The global boom of “J-culture” is frequently being connected to keywords such as “sublunary” and “polymorphous perversity“ (Allison), which describe the character of Japanese pop industry products and the ways how they differ to Western entertainment culture. However, many approaches to Japanese popular culture are dealing with the „non-Western“, even spiritual facets of the subject, but do not pursue the question of how this new “Japaneseness” of pop-cultural manifestations can be contextualized in the bigger framework of a Japanese identity discourse since the 1990s and how the political instrumentalization of subculture is discussed within the Japanese intellectual community. Some voices have welcomed Japan’s change from previously being in a state of “self-denial” to the creation of a “Japanese odour” that valorises its products as “things Japanese“. Others have denied the possibility of a Japanese identity after the (traumatizing) encounter with the West since 1945 (Azuma 2001). This raises the question if any specific Japanese philosophies are transported along with the global Japanese hype or whether the boom has to be interpreted on a more general level of human existence in post-modern times. Especially with regard to the popular theory that assumes a Japanese national character of “techno-animism” and a “permanent” Japanese postmodernity a critical discussion is crucial. The multi-layered character and the diversity of terms such as “Cool Japan”, “J-lifestyle”, “J-Pop” and “cultural power Japan“ make it difficult to focus the methodological approach. Even by limiting the topic on cultural products such as Manga and Anime, as some conferences have already done, the meaning of “cultural power Japan” remains ambiguous.
The conference aims to shed a new light on and extend the discussion of Japan’s cultural power in the 21st century in three ways: First, by introducing comments and findings of Japanese critiques and cultural philosophers such as Ôtsuka Eiji, Azuma Hiroki and Miyadai Shinji. Second, by analysing possible influences of Japanese advertising companies, media producers and lifestyle-designers on global customers with a special focus on empirical data of Japan’s impact on global youth. Third, to add another perspective to the global impact of Japan’s cultural power the conference discusses the Japan hype in Western countries compared to the one occurring simultaneously in many East and Southeast Asian countries.
In summary subjects of the conference cover the following areas:
- Meta-theories and the discourse on Japan as a cultural power
- Ideological and economical dimensions
- Past and present of Japanese cultural hegemonies as mirrored in popular culture in Southeast Asia, China and Taiwan
- Manga in Europe: empirical findings and their interpretation
Furthermore a student panel on “Reading Manga, studying Japanese Studies” is being planned.
Suggestions for contributions to the conference are welcomed by the organizers until the deadline of March 15, 2010.
Organizers:
Cosima Wagner und Lisette Gebhardt
Contact information:
Prof. Dr. Lisette Gebhardt
eMail:
l.gebhardt@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Dr. des. Cosima Wagner
eMail :
c.wagner@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University
Academic Faculty for Linguistics, Cultural and Civilization Studies, Art Studies
Japanese Studies dept., Secretariat
Senckenberganlage 31
60325 Frankfurt / Main
Germany
Telephone (Secretariat) : +49-69 / 798-23287
Fax : +49-69 / 798-22173
Homepage :
Japanologie der Universität Frankfurt