Facing Cultural Subjugation: Ainu and Okinawan Identity through Literature and Music

Presenter Information

Cassandra Guevara, Oberlin College

Location

Science Center, A255

Document Type

Presentation

Start Date

4-26-2013 2:45 PM

End Date

4-26-2013 3:45 PM

Abstract

Long before the Japanese Empire embarked on its brutal campaign for the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, the Meiji government pursued a violent, nationalistic expansion to the islands of Hokkaido and Okinawa. The indigenous Ainu and the Okinawan peoples were subject to discrimination, displacement, and forced assimilation, resulting in cultural suppression, suffering, and death. An examination of their rich literature and music, from early Ainu folktales to modern-day “Uchina Pop,” provides under-represented perspectives on Japan’s long colonial history from within.

Notes

Session II, Panel 9: Determinant Spaces in the Politics of Culture: Reflections from Japan, New York, and Jamaica
Moderator: Gillian Johns, Associate Professor of English

Major

East Asian Studies

Advisor(s)

Suzanne Gay, East Asian Studies

Project Mentor(s)

Jed Deppman, Comparative Literature

April 2013

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Apr 26th, 2:45 PM Apr 26th, 3:45 PM

Facing Cultural Subjugation: Ainu and Okinawan Identity through Literature and Music

Science Center, A255

Long before the Japanese Empire embarked on its brutal campaign for the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, the Meiji government pursued a violent, nationalistic expansion to the islands of Hokkaido and Okinawa. The indigenous Ainu and the Okinawan peoples were subject to discrimination, displacement, and forced assimilation, resulting in cultural suppression, suffering, and death. An examination of their rich literature and music, from early Ainu folktales to modern-day “Uchina Pop,” provides under-represented perspectives on Japan’s long colonial history from within.