The Structure of Detachment : The Aesthetic Vision of Kuki Shuzo

Published in 1930, when Japan was struggling to define and assert its national and cultural identity, __The Structure of Iki (Iki no kôzô)__ re-introduced the Japanese to a sophisticated tradition of urbane and spirited stylishness __(iki)__ that was forged in the Edo period. Upon his return from Europe, Kuki Shûzô (1888–1941) made use of the new theoretical frameworks based on Western Continental methodology to redefine the significance of __iki__ in Japanese society and culture. By applying Heidegger’s hermeneutics to this cultural phenomenon, he attempted to recast traditional understanding in the context of Western aesthetic theory and reestablish the centrality of a purely Japanese sense of "taste." The three critical essays that accompany this new translation of __The Structure of Iki__ look at various aspects of Kuki, his work, and the historical context that influenced his thinking. Hiroshi Nara first traces Kuki’s interest in a philosophy of life through his exposure to Husserl, Heidegger, and Bergson. In the second essay, J. Thomas Rimer compels readers to reexamine __The Structure of Iki__ as a work in the celebrated tradition of __zuihitsu__ (stream-of-consciousness writings) and takes into account French literary influences on Kuki. The philosopher’s controversial link with Heidegger is explored by Jon Mark Mikkelsen in the final essay.

In this groundbreaking study, Riet Delsing narrates the colonization of the Pacific island of Rapa Nui and its indigenous inhabitants. The annexation of the island by Chile, in the heydays of world imperialism, places the small Latin American country in a unique position in the history of global colonialism. The analysis of this ongoing colonization process constitutes a "missing link" in Pacific Islands studies and facilitates future comparisons with other colonial adventures in the Pacific by the United States (Hawai‘i, American Samoa), France (Tahiti), and New Zealand (Maori and Cook Islands).

The first part surveys the history of the Chile-Rapa Nui relationship from its beginning in the 1880s until the present. Delsing delineates the Rapanui people's agency along with their cultural logic, showing their resilience and will to remain Rapanui - indigenous Pacific islanders rather than an ethnic minority forcefully integrated into the Chilean nation-state. In the second part, the author describes the Rapanui's contemporary emphasis on the revitalization of their language, traditional concepts about land tenure, a unique corpus of material and performative culture, renewed contact with other Pacific island cultures, and creative acts of resistance against Chilean colonialism. Emergent in her analysis is the effect of Rapa Nui's vibrant tourist industry - commodification of Rapanui difference is creating the possibility to loosen economic and political ties with Chile.

Drawing on statements of several Rapanui, she concludes that over the past few decades they have acquired a different kind of interpretive power, based on which they are making choices that serve them as a people on the road to cultural and political self-determination. Contemporary Rapa Nui is thus a modern, articulated place, marked by spirited identity politics that show the resilience and adaptability of the indigenous people who inhabit this island.

"The Structure of Detachment offers a finely crafted, reliable, and thoroughly annotated translation of this seminal work of one of modern Japan's most prominent philosophers. Because of its impact on the modern Japanese understanding of traditional culture and character, The Structure of Iki has inspired great interest and debate among scholars examining Kuki's role in the formation of a national aesthetics in the years prior to World War II. The three critical essays that accompany the translation look at various aspects of Kuki, his work, and the historical context that influenced his thinking. Hiroshi Nara first traces Kuki's interest in a philosophy of life through his exposure to Husserl, Heidegger, and Bergson. In the second essay, J. Thomas Rimer compels readers to reexamine The Structure of Iki as a work in the celebrated tradition of zuihitsu (stream-of-consciousness writings) and takes into account French literary influences on Kuki. The philosopher's controversial link with Heidegger is explored by Jon Mark Mikkelsen in the final essay, which concludes that, although Heidegger's view of art is consistent, both historically and conceptually, with his political involvement with fascism, the same cannot be said of Kuki." "The Structure of Detachment: The Aesthetic Vision of Kuki Shuzo at last makes broadly available to English readers one of Japan's major philosophical texts of the twentieth century."--Jacket Contents Acknowledgments Introduction PART I: translation of Iki no kõzõ Translator’s Preface The Structure of Iki PART II :Essays Capturing the Shudders and Palpitations: Kuki’s Quest for a Philosophy of Life Literary Stances :The Structure of Iki Reading Kuki Shūzō’s The Structure of Iki in the Shadow of L’affaire Heidegger Kuki Shūzō Chronology Contributors Translation Index Essay Index