Japanese Tea Ceremony: Canadian Casual Style!

Part One: Introduction to the Japanese Tea Ceremony

"Holding a bowl of tea whisked to a fine froth...Such a simple thing: yet filled with a spirit that reaches back more than a thousand years." The Urasenke Tradition of Tea

In order to fully immerse myself in the Civilization Exclusivity question, as well as in the Japanese aesthetic mode, I have researched and hosted a Japanese Tea Ceremony. This entry will reflect my experience and understanding as a Canadian student exploring traditional Japanese art, much as a journal entry would. But before I delve any further into my journey into the world of Teaism (or “the way of Tea”), I would like to put out this disclaimer:

This is a “Casual” or “Informal” tea ceremony exploration, and it has been conducted with some Canadian substitutions for traditional Japanese implements. Below, I will introduce the tools required to host a Tea Ceremony, but as this very helpful link demonstrates, there are several modifications one can make for cost efficiency, as some of the implements are hard to find and expensive to purchase. I will also justify these substitutions by reflecting back on the civilization exclusivity discussion: my Canadian perspective may make it impossible to properly understand or carry out this crucial Japanese custom, and just as I bring Western implements into this traditional Japanese ceremony, so I will carry my Western ideas and preconceptions. As Jennifer L. Anderson states: “Tea ritual is learned behaviour. True, no one enters the tearoom empty-handed. All students and observers of Tea being with culture-specific preconceptions about what they are seeing and doing.” (“Japanese Tea Ritual: Religion in Practice”, 476). Although I may duplicate it to the best of my ability, there will inevitably be a decidedly Canadian skew on this traditional Japanese event.

History of the Tea Ceremony:

I will begin by including a brief History of the Tea Ceremony, courtesy of the article "Japanese Aesthetics, Wabi-Sabi and the Tea Ceremony" from the University of North Texas:

“The tea plant probably originated in the mountainous regions of southern Asia and was later brought to China. Tea was first introduced to Japan along with Buddhism from China in the 6th century, but the Emperor Shomu, who ruled from 724-749, is credited with introducing tea drinking into the country after he had been presented bricks of pressed tea leaves by a Chinese priest. During the Heian period (794-1185), tea was made from steamed and dried tea leaves ground into a powder. This green tea powder, called matcha (mah-chah), is still used today.

In the 15th century, Juro Murata, tea master to Shogun Yoshimasa Ashikaga, integrated many of the concepts of wabi-sabi into the prescribed practices of the tea ceremony, including the dedication of a special room or house for the sole use in the chanoyu. The samurai class, familiar with the austerity of Zen Buddhism and the disciplined and proscribed lifestyle of the warrior, embraced the ceremony of tea. As rules governed every other aspect of life at the time, participants in tea ceremonies were also required to follow certain rules and procedures.

An increased emphasis on Zen Buddhist concepts in the tea ceremony was established by Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591), the most revered Japanese tea master. During the Momoyama period in the second half of the 16th century, Rikyu established a tea ceremony that reflects a simple and quiet taste, the form that is practiced and taught in Japan and throughout the world today. He also designed a simple, separate building to house the ceremony based on a typical Japanese farmer's rustic hut. Rikyu further formalized the tea ceremony's rules of behavior and identified the spirit of chanoyu with four basic Buddhist principles of harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility. These guiding principles signify the highest ideals of the tea ceremony.”

For a detailed history of Chado, and the crucial role women have in maintaining the art, please read Barbara Lynne and Rowland Mori’s case study"The Tea Ceremony: A Transformed Japanese Ritual".

The Ceremony:

There are tons of sources that will teach you how to host a tea ceremony. As Dr. Ogden mentioned in class, the ceremony can be held in a very formal manner, or as I will demonstrate here, very informally. As a newcomer to this art, I kept the ceremony very simple and straightforward.

I was very lucky to have my friend Stephanie as a guest. Stephanie’s mother is a Canadian-born Japanese woman, and Stephanie has grown up with many Japanese influences in her life. She has also travelled on exchange to Japan, where she was billeted by a Japanese family, and she billeted a Japanese student here in Canada. While in Japan, she had the pleasure of participating in a semi-formal tea ceremony. With her knowledge of Japanese culture (albeit from a thoroughly Canadian perspective), I thought she would be a great guest to invite to share in this experience with me.

Implements:

Below, I have included a list of the implements used during a tea ceremony. Not all tools are used in every ceremony, and others that are not included here may be used. As Dr. Ogden suggests on his blog, the idea of shin-gyo-so (true, moving, grass-like) accounts for the varying levels of complexity and formality that may be found in tea ceremonies across Japan, and indeed across the world. Consequently, the utensils and equipment used may also vary. As I mentioned above, I will bypass some of the true (formal) and moving (semi-formal) tea ceremony procedures in favour of those of the grass-like (informal) steps. In this way, I hope to be to fully immerse myself in the wabi-sabi aesthetic, rather than distract myself with the complexities of the more formal versions.

Chakaiseki - the meal, or food portion of the ceremony

Koicha - thick tea, made with matcha and served first

Usucha - thin tea, also made with matcha, but with more water. Served second.

Matcha - powdered green tea

Higashi - dry sweets, served at the end of the ceremony

Kama - kettle for heating the water

Futaoki - bamboo rest for kettle lid

Kensui - waste water bowl, for any water leftover when making tea

Kakemono - hanging scroll, to be admired by guests and chosen to represent the theme of the ceremony.

Mizusashi - jar for holding fresh water for tea

Chaire - container to hold tea

Shifuku - silk pouch to hold the chaire

Tana - stand for utensils

Chawan - bowl for actually making the tea

Chasen - whisk, used to whisk the matcha tea, which is served rather foamy

Chashaku - bamboo scoop for tea

Hishaku - bamboo water ladle

(list courtesy of "Utensils Used in the Japanese Tea Ceremony" from About.com)

Stay tuned for my next post, “Part Two: Tea Ceremony Procedure”.

Angela

Mono no aware: what is it and where is it?

To start engaging The Remains of the Day with the civilisation exclusivity question and select Japanese concepts, we turn first to one of the most prevalent Japanese aesthetics: mono no aware. In this posting, I will explain and attempt to define mono no aware according to various critical sources as well as my understanding of our lecture notes. Then, I will cite examples of mono no aware in Ishiguro’s text before raising questions about the nature of this novel.

Mono no aware is an awareness of the poignant sadness of things. Sometimes translated as “pathos” instead of “sadness,” mono no aware is an acceptance that things, people, places, or circumstances, etc. are capable of expressing or evoking sadness. It is a Japanese aesthetic concept that can be traced back through the centuries to Lady Murasaki Shikibu’s use of aware in The Tale of Genji and Motoori Norinaga’s subsequent construction of the term mono no aware in critical analysis (more on Norinaga later...). In the meantime, here is what Mark Meli has to say about this concept’s “hermeneutic” or interpretation:

“The term ‘mono no aware’ has been often used by both Japanese and Westerners to exemplify an important aspect of what is seen as a traditional Japanese aesthetic consciousness, or bi-ishiki. In the spoken language, the component ‘aware’ depicts sorrow or misery; ‘mono no’ attributes this ‘aware’ to the things of the world, taken either in the particular or more usually the abstract sense. This literal sorrow or misery of things is taken often to signify a sad, fleeting beauty that is conspicuous in traditional Japanese cultural expressions” (Meli 60).

Mono no aware’s “sad, fleeting beauty” is most closely connected to the Japanese notion of transience (mujō) or sensing-impermanence (mujō-kan), “which claims that no thing in the world is permanent, that all things, both beautiful and painful, must inevitably pass away” (Meli 60). For instance, when one realizes the impermanence of something, one grows sad at the awareness of it passing away – almost as if one could feel or sense its passing.

Both of these terms (mono no aware specifically) merit more explanation. Meli details his approach:

“While investigating the history of such literary usage might indeed give us a clue as to why this term came to be so important, it would also lead to an unending accumulation of passages wherein the term is used in rather variant ways. Thus, a hermeneutic investigation into how the term has been explicitly theorized and interpreted, how certain thinkers have attempted to explicate its meaning and connect it with the Japanese literary tradition, seems to me a better approach” (Meli 60-61).

I highly recommend Meli’s article for a deeper understanding of how mono no aware is used in order to deduce its meaning (see the bibilography at the end of this blog for further articles and information). For my purposes here, however, I am going to give examples of mono no aware in The Remains of the Day as a method to consider the “Japanese-ness” of the text according to our Civilisation Exclusivity debate.

The strongest sense of mono no aware in Ishiguro’s novel is at the end. This is not to say that the concept doesn’t appear throughout the novel, but that Stevens takes a while to fully acknowledge both past and present events and thus become truly aware of the sadness of things. In the final chapter, Stevens recalls Miss Kenton reminiscing about Darlington Hall with him the day before. She philosophises about her life and says to him, “you get to thinking about a different life, a better life you might have had. For instance, I get to thinking about a life I may have had with you, Mr. Stevens” (239). In Stevens’ narrative, he writes of his reaction:

“I do not think I responded immediately, for it took me a moment or two to fully digest these words of Miss Kenton... their implications were such as to provoke a certain degree of sorrow within me. Indeed – why should I not admit it? – at that moment, my heart was breaking” (239).

Stevens has spent nearly the entire novel recalling his glory days at Darlington Hall and emphasising, almost all the while, his encounters with Miss Kenton. Indeed, this is the only time where the text admits to any sort of romantic relationship between the two, and interestingly enough, it is Miss Kenton who mentions it and not Stevens himself. Now, he can say that he felt “sorrow” at Miss Kenton’s words but “at that moment,” he was probably not aware of his sadness because his emotions were hurt. In retrospect, Stevens is recoiling with regret at what-could-have-been if he and Miss Kenton had seized one of the many opportunities they had at romance.

These opportunities appear throughout Stevens’ memories of Miss Kenton. The fact that we recognize them as opportunities when Stevens does not is a further example of mono no aware – or rather, our awareness of the sadness of things. Ishiguro’s impressionistic mode of writing scatters sexual words throughout certain episodes to evoke the tension between Stevens and Miss Kenton. His word choice includes, “mounting”, “penetrating”, “considerable length”, “she came”, “ah, Miss Kenton” (78-79) and others. It is because of Ishiguro’s skill with language, subtext, and emotion that we feel mono no aware at particular times – cumulating in the final dialogue detailed above.

For more examples of mono no aware in The Remains of the Day, stay tuned to subsequent blog postings and/or comments. In the meantime, these examples show some of the ways in which this text is “Japanese”… but what about its Western aspects? To be continued…

Mel

Kazuo Ishiguro Biography

In order to better understand the general theme of cultural exclusivity concerning the novel The Remains of the Day, I have compiled a brief biography of the author Kazuo Ishiguro.

Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan on November 8, 1954. When his father attained the position as a researcher for the National Institute of Oceanography in 1960, Ishiguro and his family moved to Britain. There, Ishiguro continued his education through the British system at a grammar school for boys in Surrey. Although he left Japan at a tender age, he still feels the significant influence Japanese culture had on his life. “Nagasaki is not just a few hazy images. I remember it as a real chunk of my life,” Ishiguro told The Guardian in an interview, which ran on February 19, 2005. It was later decided when Ishiguro was fifteen that the family would remain in England permanently when his father declined a position at a university in Tokyo. Although his family ultimately settled in England, Ishiguro's parents, “didn't have the mentality of immigrants because they always thought they would go home at some stage.” Thus, Ishiguro and his two sisters, Fumiko and Yoko, were often sent material by their relatives that would continue their Japanese education. Although Ishiguro's parents have remained in the same area for a great number of years, he states that, “they still very much think of themselves as Japanese and still find it interesting to discuss 'the English.'”

Ishiguro himself still holds significant ties to his Japanese heritage. After publishing his first novel in 1983, he attained British citizenship after he was included in the best of young British writers without actually being a British citizen. After this event, he made the practical decision to apply for citizenship under his reasoning that, “I felt British and my future was in Britain. And [British citizenship] would also make me eligible for literary awards. But I still think I'm regarded as one of their own in Japan."

Acclaimed Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami also sees Ishiguro and his work as, “one of their own” in the eyes of the Japanese. “Partly it's because they are great books, but also because we find a particular kind of sincere and tender quality in his fiction, which happens to be familiar and natural to us.” It matters not that Ishiguro does not identify exclusively with his Japanese heritage, for Murakami states that in Ishiguro's work, “the place could be anywhere, the character could be anybody and the time could be any time. Everything supposed to be real could be unreal, and vice versa. It is a sensation I love and I only receive it when I read his books.”

After grammar school, Ishiguro attended the University of Kent receiving a B.A. with honours and later continued his education with a M.A. from the University of East Anglia. It wasn't until the early 1980s that Ishiguro began his career in writing. Ishiguro's work has earned many notable decorations and it was with his third novel, The Remains of the Day (1989) that Ishiguro won one of the most coveted literary awards, the Booker Prize. Ishiguro currently resides in London with his wife, Lorna and daughter, Naomi.

Rachel

"The Remains of the Day" movie

There is also a motion picture called “The Remains of the Day” with Anthony Hopkins as Stevens and Emma Thompson as Miss Kenton. Released in 1993, the film is based on Ishiguro’s novel. It is so accurate at times, it even uses dialogue directly from the book. At other times, however, they have altered some details (so be careful not to take the movie as an exact rendition).

Overall, I liked it. Hopkins is brilliant as Stevens... but I liked the book better.

You can find most of the movie on You Tube, divided into several clips. Here is a link to the movie’s trailer.

Mel

Summary of The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day is the story of an English butler named Mr. Stevens set in the mid 1950s. It is a first-person narrative of an excursion Mr. Stevens takes not only through the English countryside, but also through the memories of his life as a butler.

The novel is divided into several parts, which each depicts a day or two of Stevens' six-day trip to Little Compton, Cornwall. A prologue at the novel's opening also introduces the reader to the nature of Stevens' work as well as his current employer, Mr. Farraday. Mr. Farraday is a young American gentleman who recently purchased Darlington Hall after the death of the Hall's previous master, Lord Darlington. The majority of Stevens professional life has been spent in service to the recently deceased Lord. In fact, the change in his employer proves to be a somewhat awkward transition for Stevens, since the manner in which Mr. Farraday addresses him has an uncomfortably colloquial, bantering tone, to which Stevens is completely unaccustomed.

The majority of the events and experiences Stevens recollects are often grandiose dinner parties with a wide array of distinguished guests. Representatives of Britain's heads of state and other countries including such politically charged regions as France, Germany, and the United States of America were often present. Stevens organized such occasions as head butler with the strong desire to achieve 'greatness' through stoicism, tranquility, and pride. He proves such professionalism on one occasion by working to propitiate Lord Darlington's guests instead of remaining by his father's dying side. By ignoring his own matters for the good of the guests' comfort Stevens shows great composure. Subsequently he forgets how to express his humanity and compassion in order to satisfy both the guests and his own sense of pride. Stevens often attributes composure with greater importance than emotions throughout the novel.

At first the details to why Stevens wishes to undergo his trip are somewhat ambiguous, except for his reference to a letter he received from a woman named Miss Kenton. The reader is later informed that Miss Kenton is an ex-employee of Darlington Hall. In order to pursue married life to a man, Mr. Benn, she left Darlington Hall many years ago. Mr. Stevens has not been able to fully come to terms with these circumstances, for throughout the novel he continues to refer to Mrs. Benn by her maiden name, Miss Kenton, instead of her married name. Stevens recollects Miss Kenton often with significant repressed romantic emotions. Unfortunately in order to maintain his almost excessive professionalism, Stevens remains unaware of the true nature of his sentiments towards Miss Kenton and subsequently loses her to another man. After Stevens meets with Miss Kenton at the end of his journey, they share a moment where Miss Kenton reveals her true emotions towards Stevens. She states how she believes her life would have turned out very different and perhaps better had she married Stevens instead of her current husband. This confession leaves Stevens in shock, for he becomes fully aware of the significance of his feelings for Miss Kenton and that he missed his chance for a different life a very long time ago.

This novel is truly the exploration of the personal journey Stevens takes in order to fully understand the people that impact him as well as his lot in life. When he accepts that he missed the opportunity to share his life with Miss Kenton the purpose of the novel is fulfilled. Due to Stevens obsession of achieving greatness through his work he is left with only one task. This task is to carry on and essentially make the best of the remains of his days.

Rachel

Francis Fukuyama’s “The End of History?”: A Summary

Francis Fukuyama’s essay is another useful resource for us as it represents a different aspect of the civilization exclusivity question. “The End of History?” concerns the rise and fall of major ideologies such as absolutism, fascism and communism, and suggests that human history should be viewed in terms of a battle of ideologies which has reached its end in the universalization of Western liberal democracy. He argues that although its realization is still in process in the material world, the idea of Western liberalism has triumphed, as evidenced by the worldwide growth of Western consumerist culture and the gradual movement towards democratic or liberal reforms in countries that previously embraced alternate ideologies.

To further explore the idea of history with a beginning, middle and end, Fukuyama discusses the work of the philosopher who proposed the concept, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and the more recent interpretations of Hegel’s work by Alexandre Kojève. While his idea has been used to support other ideologies, Hegel saw the French Revolution in 1806 as the event that signalled the triumph of the liberal and democratic system. While the real world had yet to reach that state, the ideas of man’s universal right to freedom and of government by consent had been realized in the form of an ideology that could not be improved upon. When they became embodied in the world, Kojève argued that conflict over the type of “large” issues that characterized history would cease and mostly economic activity would remain. (Learn more about Kojève and his arguments here)

In order to appreciate Hegel’s theory, Fukuyama explores his assertions of ideas as the driving force of history. Hegel described these ideas as “ideology”, encompassing not just political doctrines, but the religion, culture and moral values of society as well. Unable to change the material world, these ideologies would still have affects on its future direction. According to Hegel, ideology is the “cause” in the long run, of the real world’s direction. This means that to properly view current events one must consider the history of ideology. The modern economic policy that views the world only in terms of needs and wants and rational maximizing behaviour can’t completely explain lifestyle choices by itself. To consider economic success in Asia as evidence of free market viability without considering societal aspects of work ethic, frugality and other moral qualities is to ignore the part ideology plays in all current world events. Fukuyama reveals the importance of this argument as it means that economic liberalism does not produce liberal politics itself, or vice versa, but that both of them are the result of a previous consciousness. (Learn more about Hegel and his arguments here)

To evaluate whether, considering these specifications, history really has ended, Fukuyama looks next at whether any core conflicts of human life remain that could only be resolved by a political-economic structure other than modern liberalism. In terms of mankind’s “common ideological heritage”, two such alternatives have been fascism and communism. The seemingly self-destructive nature of fascism was revealed during World War II, and its failure has deflated further fascist movements. As communism’s case against liberalism has weakened with the rise of equality in the legal and social structure of the classless West, so has support for communism in the West, and elsewhere. By extent of the Hegelian view, world-wide embracing of consumer culture can be seen as a move towards economic liberalism, and political liberalism must follow. Those countries still under communism are only an anomaly on the international front, and the important fact is that very few still believe in the ideology. Fukuyama expects this will result in a mounting pressure for change as alternatives to Western liberalism are exhausted.

Finally, Fukuyama explores what the end of history would mean for international relations. While the ideology has arrived, for the foreseeable future much of the world will continue to cause conflict as they move there. With the leading countries in a post-history state it is commonly thought there will still be little result because national interest is always a much stronger force than ideological theory. But as Fukuyama expressed with materialism and economics, international relations are also the result of preconceived ideologies. Nationalist inspired expansionism similar to that seen in nineteenth century Europe is what we are supposed to expect from “de-ideologized” countries. But the fact that they believed in imperialism disqualifies them from being considered truly liberal, and Fukuyama argues it was different forms of ideology that they used to justify their imperialism. Since fascism’s defeat in World War II all expansionism has been done in establishment of defence against others with overtly-expansionist ideologies. After liberalisation of market and economy, expansionism disappears.

Communism is losing its power as a truly excepted ideology, and without a significant alternative a common market will continue to grow and large scale ideological conflict will fade away. But Fukuyama suggests that conflict will continue on another level. Those areas that have not reached the end of history will continue to be in conflict with those that have. Nationalist conflict and ethnic conflict have not played themselves out yet, and Fukuyama predicts they will result in increases in terrorism. As we move to economic conflict and environmental issues instead of the powerful and inspiring conflicts of history, Fukuyama supposes a state of tediousness may even “serve to get history started once again.”

To read Fukuyama’s article in full, visit this link.

Krista

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Samuel P. Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations?": A Summary

The work of Samuel P. Huntington will act as a key source for our exploration of the civilization exclusivity question, raised above. His piece “The Clash of Civilizations?” analyzes contemporary and projected conflicts, suggesting that the clash of civilizations will create the fodder for all conflict to follow. He proposes that prior warfare and conflict transition from the work of monarchies, to the stuff of nation states, to the result of ideological differences. Huntington concludes his article with a prediction that civilization divisions and misunderstandings will fuel all debates to come.

To further this argument, Huntington reveals what attributes constitute a civilization. He suggests that civilizations share basic commonalities that have been established over time, and are unlikely to change quickly. These include language, history, religion, and customs – among other basic characteristics – that all members of that division intensely identify with. Civilizations may be large or small, and may overlap creating subcivilizations. A civilization is the broadest level of identification that one identifies with, and as individuals redefine their values and identities, so civilizations adapt and shift.

Upon completion of his analysis of civilizations, Huntington launches into an explanation of his claim that civilization identity will be increasingly important in the future due to the interactions that will unfold between the major civilization “players”, and that there are various reasons that a clash is inevitable. The first reason is that the differences in views between these groups are on a fundamental level. They contain basic questions, such as what the relationships are between man and God, individual and group, and parent and child. In addition, the interactions between these civilizations are increasing rapidly, causing people to become exceedingly receptive of these basic differences. Also, due to modernization, the nation is becoming less of a source of identity, and people are turning to other groups to create meaning, often through unsecularization. This is confounded by an anti-Westernization movement, under which the West is at the peak of its power, and faces a non-West that strongly opposes all association with it. Lastly, economic regionalization is increasing, causing common cultures to rally, and create an “us” versus “them” mentality.

These reasons for why the clash will occur function to emphasize a duality in how it will occur. Huntington argues that on a micro-level, groups that border one another on cultural “fault lines” will struggle; on a macro-level, states from different civilizations will compete on military and economic grounds. These fault lines often occur due to religious beliefs, and have led to Arab nationalist movements, as well as Islamic Fundamentalism. Fault lines have also erupted into conflict between Hindus and Muslims, Chinese and Buddhist Tibetans, Japan and the European and American West, and in the “new Cold War” between China and the United States. Although not all of these clashes will be characterized by violence, the conflicts occurring along Islamic fault lines appear most ominous.

Huntington also reveals the effects of “kin-country rallying” on the clash of civilizations. He reflects upon the examples of Islamic collaboration in Arab countries as well as in the former Soviet Union as a way of demonstrating the ways in which civilizations, regardless of national ties, will unite in order to fight under the “us” versus “them” mentality mentioned above. Huntington warns that this type of rallying has been limited to date, but has the potential to spread into further conflict in the near future.

These trends are certainly exacerbated by the West’s tendency to dominate in the international sphere, through such organizations as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and United Nations (UN). While the phrase “the world community” is often invoked, Huntington argues that international endeavors tend to favour the economic and political interests of the West; however, this dominance is not the only source of conflict facing the West. Fundamental Western values such as individualism, democracy, and the separation of church and state have little sway over many other world civilizations, causing strain between the West and non-West. Although other nations respond to this “West versus the Rest” mentality in different ways (such as through isolationist foreign policy or Western bandwagoning), these crucial civilization differentiations will continue to strain both domestic and international relations in the future. This is particularly true, as some countries defect from the West while others contain groups at odds with one another regarding how best to approach dominant Western culture.

Huntington asserts that some civilizations are better positioned to Westernize than others, and that Confucian and Islamic groups are among those that are least likely to embrace Western culture. As such, these groups have established a connection with each other, creating a significant challenge to Western interests through their alliance and through increased weaponization. As the West de-weaponizes, this civilization rallying may erupt in some of the most intense conflict to come.

As Huntington proves, the implications of civilization-consciousness are multitudinous and multifaceted, and serve to further differentiate groups rather than bring them together. This assessment may prove useful when considered in relation to the civilization exclusivity idea, as it not only suggests that civilizations are unable to truly understand one another, but that the results of different opinions are sometimes explosive.

To read Huntington’s article in full, visit this link.

Angela

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Civilisation Exclusivity

“The intention is to allow you to encounter a foreign civilisation... as a foreign civilisation. The (to me unsatisfactory) alternative is to intellectually colonise the other civilisation – to facilely experience that culture as if it were merely an exotic outpost of one’s own”

-Dr. Stephen Ogden, professor at Simon Fraser University

Regarding our course texts, aesthetic concepts, and overall meandering journey through Japanese culture, our group perspective on the Civilisation Exclusivity debate is just that – a debate, or dialectic. Although the thesis proposed for the course by our professor, Dr. Ogden, is in favour of Civilisation Exclusivity, the five of us prefer to remain as neutral as possible and to take this opportunity to discuss the issue more thoroughly. This is not to say that we disagree with any one position, but that we strive to defend a multitude of perspectives as we define and discuss Civilisation Exclusivity about the West and Japan.

Before delving into various arguments, let us examine this concept in more detail...

Civilisation Exclusivity concerns culture at its broadest level. It is the idea that one civilisation is exclusive of all others because each culture’s fundamental assumptions (beliefs, values, etc.) are completely different. For instance, symbolism is a Western ideology that does not exist in Japan. Where a large oak tree might symbolise age or wisdom for the West, to the Japanese, the tree just is. They might even look at the same tree and feel old. The point is that the tree itself does not stand for anything in the abstract sense. Historically, Plato’s parable of the cave (explaining real form versus shadow) is an example of how deeply symbolism is engrained into Western culture. As Dr. Ogden stated in lecture, symbolism assumes an ontology or concept of being which implies a separation between this and that. The Japanese do not know symbolism because their ontology is fundamentally different from the West.

Civilisation Exclusivity is closely connected to the indeterminacy principle (or uncertainty principle). Developed in 1927 by German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976), this principle “postulat[ed] that a measurement of one property of an entity, such as its momentum, involved an inevitable uncertainty of our knowledge in the conjugate property, such as its position” (OED). In other words, what an entity is and/or its function depends upon where it is geographically and in time.

Perhaps more applicable to our discussion of literature, however, is Willard Van Orman Quine’s (1908-2000) “indeterminacy of translation” thesis. An American analytic philosopher and logician, Quine wrote Word and Object (1960) in which his thesis problematizes linguists’ ostensive definitions of unknown languages (see this article on the gavagai experiment, or look inside Quine’s text here). Basically, Quine argues that no matter how much one learns about a foreign culture, even after a basic linguistic foundation, one can only build upon indeterminacies. No unique meaning can be assigned to words or sentences because the translator gathers his or her own evidence which forms their particular understanding: there are too many variables.

Thomas Nagel’s (b.1937) article, “What is it Like to be a Bat?” (1974) applies this indeterminacy to human consciousness, and argues that consciousness has a subjective character or “what it is like” aspect. Nagel states that we cannot know what it is like to be a bat because we are not bats.

Our last example is a contemporary work which discusses indeterminacy of translation and Civilization Exclusivity (concerning Japan) – Naoki Sakai’s book Translation and Subjectivity: On “Japan” and Cultural Nationalism (2008). Here is the back-cover description from the publisher:

"An excursion across the boundaries of language and culture, this provocative book suggests that national identity and cultural politics are, in fact, 'all in the translation.' Translation, we tend to think, represents another language in all its integrity and unity. Naoki Sakai turns this thinking on its head, and shows how this unity of language really only exists in our manner of representing translation. In analyses of translational transactions and with a focus on the ethnic, cultural, and national identities of modern Japan, he explores the cultural politics inherent in translation. Through the schematic representation of translation, one language is rendered in contrast to another as if the two languages are clearly different and distinct. And yet, Sakai contends, such differences and distinctions between ethnic or national languages (or cultures) are only defined once translation has already rendered them commensurate. His essays thus address translation as a means of figuring (or configuring) difference."

For more information, please follow any of the above links or see Dr. Ogden’s description of Civilisation Exclusivity on the course blog here.

Mel