Facing Cultural Subjugation: Ainu and Okinawan Identity through Literature and Music
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.
Recommended Citation
Guevara, Cassandra, "Facing Cultural Subjugation: Ainu and Okinawan Identity through Literature and Music" (04/26/13). Senior Symposium. 20.
https://digitalcommons.oberlin.edu/seniorsymp/2013/presentations/20
Major
East Asian Studies
Advisor(s)
Suzanne Gay, East Asian Studies
Project Mentor(s)
Jed Deppman, Comparative Literature
April 2013
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.
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