Numer 55 (4/2019)
Philosophy & Aesthetics of Sexuality in Japan
Redaktorzy: Timon Screech, Gabriela Matusiak
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Sarah Rebecca Schmid
Rotting Bodies: Sex, Gender, and Horror in Tōkaidō Yotsuya Kaidan
DOI: 10.19205/55.19.1
9 – 26
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Słowa kluczowe

Kabuki |theatre |Edo Period |femininity |ghosts

Streszczenie

The success that the kabuki play Tōkaidō Yotsuya Kaidan enjoyed was not simply due to its spectacular stage tricks, but also because of the inescapably intimate (human) nature of the horror displayed on stage. Sexuality and gender in particular dominate the horror on stage. The central character Oiwa serves as a vehicle for gendered fears rooted in Edoperiod attitudes towards sexuality.


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Uniwersytet Zuryski, Szwajcaria
Aimen Remida
Dialectical & Beautiful Harmony. A Sexuality-based Interpretation of Reiwa 令和
DOI: 10.19205/55.19.2
27 – 43
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Słowa kluczowe

sexuality |Reiwa |Harmony |creativity |dialectics

Streszczenie

Reiwa, the name of the new Japanese era, is interpreted as a harmony of three perspectives, which have in common various aesthetical functions of sexuality. In section 1, the historical context of the formulation of the name is presented as an encounter of poetry and sexualized cosmogony. Section 2 offers systematic insights into the symbolic effects of sexuality as unity of elements from Shintoism & Taoism. Finally, the discussion of a dialectical perspective contributes in shaping a new interpretation of Reiwa, resting upon sexuality as an experience of creative and beautiful harmony.


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Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldorf, Niemcy
Thomas Schmidt
The Depiction of Japanese Homosexuality through Masks and Mirrors. An Observational Analysis of Funeral Parade of Roses
DOI: 10.19205/55.19.3
45 – 62
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Słowa kluczowe

Sakabe Megumi |Mirror and Mask |Close Viewing |Avant-Garde Documentary |Gender Performativity

Streszczenie

Matsumoto Toshio’s avant-garde documentary Funeral Parade of Roses (bara no sōretsu) depicts life in Shinjuku’s 1960s underground culture. Using Sakabe Megumi’s hermeneutical theory, the film’s depiction of sexuality is analysed through its use of literal and figurative mirrors and masks. It is argued that sexuality is highly performative and that the film itself is structured like a play of mirrors, questioning the nature of reality by deferring hypostasis ad infinitum.


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University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, USA
Grzegorz Kubiński
Dolls and Octopuses. The (In)human Sexuality of Mari Katayama
DOI: 10.19205/55.19.4
63 – 78
PDF

Słowa kluczowe

body |disability |Social Media |Inhuman |sexuality

Streszczenie

Japan is very often seen as a country of ambiguities and contradictions. The latest technology meets tradition here. In the popular culture of the West, Japan is also perceived as a disturbingly sensual country. This article is an attempt to combine elements such as Western technology and eastern sexuality based on the work of contemporary artist Mari Katayama. A number of proposals are presented how to interpret Katayama’s work as a reinterpretation of sociosexual and bodily as well as corporeal norms of the past and present, and of the West and of the East.


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Uniwersytet Pedagogiczny im. KEN w Krakowie
Louise Boyd
Women in shunga: Questions of Objectification and Equality
DOI: 10.19205/55.19.5
79 – 100
PDF

Słowa kluczowe

Shunga |Sex |Art |feminism |Objectification

Streszczenie

The objectification of women in art and pornography is often seen as harmful. However, Martha Nussbaum’s articulation of seven types of objectification shows how it can be benign or positive depending on the context. This paper utilizes Nussbaum’s ideas to examine the objectification of women depicted in shunga, sexually explicit art created in 17th-19th century Japan, and how it differs from European art of the same period. It also explores related issues of equality, sexuality, and agency.


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National Museums Scotland
Jarrel De Matas
When No Means Yes: BDSM, Body Modification, and Japanese Womanhood as Monstrosity in Snakes and Earrings and Hotel Iris
DOI: 10.19205/55.19.6
101 – 115
PDF

Słowa kluczowe

sexuality |Japan |Modification |monstrosity |BDSM

Streszczenie

This paper explores the representation of female monstrosity which are relied upon by two female Japanese writers to illustrate modern Japanese women’s process of reclaiming power. Hitomi Kanehara in Snakes and Earrings and Yōko Ogawa in Hotel Iris depict women involved in BDSM relationships which shape how their characters are seen, how they view themselves, and how they develop their consciousness of the world. Although the female protagonists of each novel are presented in a submissive role to their male counterparts, they nonetheless embrace their passivity in order to reclaim their own unique sense of empowerment. BDSM is represented as warping the body in both novels. Through this warping, the women are able to negotiate spaces for themselves where they can derive their own pleasure from the supposed passive positions. Snakes and Earrings overlays BDSM with practices of body modifications in order to portray the changing attitudes toward female subjectivity in modern Japan. In Hotel Iris, traditional values involving familial authority clash with the sexual awakening of it’s female protagonist as she navigates the socio-cultural stigma attached with acting outside what is considered normal. Through the analyses of both novels this paper highlights the changing conception of female sexuality and sexual practices in modern Japan. These changing conceptions speak to the evolution of female subjectivity and the gendered wrrestling of power through sexual activity.


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University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA
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1 – 118
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Instytut Filozofii
Grodzka 52
e-ISSN 2544-8242
Uniwersytet Jagielloński
31-044 Kraków