Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15291/sic/2.15.lc.7
From Meiwa to Reiwa: Rethinking Images of “Distinctive Japan”
Iva Lakić Parać
; University of Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
From ancient times, with the adoption of the Chinese cultural framework, to the modern era of introducing Western culture, Japan has defended its cultural boundaries with the image of a distinctive self. This paper will question some of the established interpretations of classical Japanese poetry by examining the thoughts and ideas of the Japanese scholar Kamo no Mabuchi. Mabuchi wrote his most important works during the Meiwa era (1764-1772) and is, among all, famous for his interpretation of Man’yōshū, an ancient collection of Japanese poetry, from which the new Japanese era name Reiwa was recently taken. This paper will attempt to deconstruct some of the mechanisms of how classical Japanese literature and images of the past continue to be used as a means of “nation-building” in times of crisis.
Keywords
Man’yōshū, kokugakusha, Kamo no Mabuchi, Reiwa, Japanese nationalism
Hrčak ID:
335099
URI
Publication date:
1.6.2025.
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