Dreams of Difference: The Japan Romantic School and the Crisis of Modernity

From 1935 to 1945, the Japan Romantic School (Nihon Romanha), a group of major intellectuals and literary figures, explored issues concerning politics, literature, and nationalism in ways that still influence cultural discourse in Japan today. Kevin Doak's timely study is a broad critique of modernity in early twentieth-century Japan. He uses close readings and translations of texts and poems to suggest that the school's interest in romanticism stemmed from its attempt to surmount the "cultural crisis" of lost traditions. This attempt to overcome modernity eventually reduced the movement's earlier critical impulses to expressions of nationalist longing. Religious Nationalism Is A Subject Of Critical Importance In Much Of The World Today. Peter Van Der Veer's Timely Study On The Relationship Between Religion And Politics In India Goes Well Beyond Other Books On This Subject. He Brings Together Several Disciplines--anthropology, History, Social Theory, Literary Studies--to Show How Indian Religious Identities Have Been Shaped By Pilgrimage, Migration, Language Development, And More Recently, Print And Visual Media. Van Der Veer's Central Focus Is The Lengthy Dispute Over The Babari Mosque In Ayodhya, Site Of A Bloody Confrontation Between Hindus And Muslims In December 1992. A Thought-provoking Range Of Other Examples Describes The Historical Construction Of Religious Identities: Cow Protection Societies And Sufi Tombs, Purdah And The Political Appropriation Of Images Of The Female Body, Salman Rushdie And The Role Of The Novel In Nationalism, Mahatma Gandhi And Swami Vivekananda, The Khalsa Movement Among Sikhs, And Nationalist Archaeology And The Televised Ramayana. Van Der Veer Offers A New Perspective On The Importance Of Religious Organization And The Role Of Ritual In The Formation Of Nationalism. His Work Advances Our Understanding Of Contemporary India While Also Offering Significant Theoretical Insights Into One Of The Most Troubling Issues Of This Century.--provided By Publisher. Prologue: Nationalism, Romanticism, And The Problem Of Modernity -- 1. Toward An Ironic Praxis: Yasuda Yojuro And The Aesthetics Of Totality -- 2. Indeterminate Poetics: The Romantic Style -- 3. Return To Parnassus: The Exoticism Of The Self -- 4. The Ethics Of Identity: Kamei Katsuichiro And The Search For A New Subject -- 5. The Production Of A Culture Of The Same -- Epilogue: Romanticism Rehabilitated -- App. A. Members Of The Japan Romantic School -- App. B. Subjective Positions In Ito Shizuo's Laments To My Person Peter Van Der Veer. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 223-235) And Index. From 1935 to 1945, the Japan Romantic School (Nihon Romanha), a group of major intellectuals and literary figures, explored issues concerning politics, literature, and nationalism in ways that still influence cultural discourse in Japan today. Kevin Doak's timely study is a broad critique of modernity in early twentieth-century Japan. He uses close readings and translations of texts and poems to suggest that the school's interest in romanticism stemmed from its attempt to surmount the'cultural crisis'of lost traditions. This attempt to overcome modernity eventually reduced the movement's earlier critical impulses to expressions of nationalist longing.This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1994.From 1935 to 1945, the Japan Romantic School (Nihon Romanha), a group of major intellectuals and literary figures, explored issues concerning politics, literature, and nationalism in ways that still influence cultural discourse in Japan today. Kevin Doak'