Blog # 9

After Discussion Reflection: 

I felt like the discussion went really well. Everyone had very good points to the question that were brought up. I felt like my question went over decently well but could've gone a little better. I felt like my question would've been a bit more thought provoking but I guess how I thought of them and how everyone thought of them was a bit different. However, I was still pleased with the discussions. Really enjoyed being outside, it made it a very fun experience. 10/10 would recommend.

What Does it Mean to be American?

I honestly feel like this question is something that everyone might think about from time to time. However, I know that I feel no connection to this country. I have never had a sense of patriotism and I feel that I could easily leave this country to move to another. But what makes me an American? Well I was born in this country and that is the only thing that I feel makes me American.

Citations:

1. Bigaku

      a.  "The Japanese aesthetic is very subjective, and there are no absolute criteria as to what this should be. In the West, however, what is beautiful is beautiful in and of itself, so there are explicit and well-established criteria for beauty." Pg. 37

I find it very interesting that the Japanese people are able to find beauty in a more subjective form rather than just a very plain way of looking at art. I feel this definitely reflects into the cultural understanding of ambiguity. However, I cannot accept the statement that the West only values a very defined version of beauty. There have been many very movements within the Western art world that have valued a more abstract approach to the beauty of the art. I would even argue that Japanese style would be too straight forward in comparison to some of the pieces that have become valued as beautiful and insightful pieces of art. However, I personally feel that I would love the Japanese style of art just due to my want to try and think my way through a piece rather than just view and appreciate the skill that was shown in creating a realistic painting.

    b. "Today the Japanese language is changing as people express themselves more decisively and directly and sometimes become irritated with vagueness for its own sake." Pg. 38

I think it is both awesome and terrible that the culture is changing within Japan in such a way. On one hand, it is awesome that the culture is able to adapt and evolve in the Modern World, however, on the other it is sad that such an old and well established way of speaking has been thrown out due to Western influences. However, if you look at the world as a whole and the individual countries and populations within, you are able to see that this happens all the time throughout history. Even in our culture, we see that people tend to speak in such a way that many people of older generations would call, "dumbed down" and "concise." With the invention of cell phones, social media, and other such outlets to speak to people, we have become less grammatically correct and it seems our sentences are not fully thought out. So, keeping that in mind, it is easy to understand how the Japanese way of speaking is changing in such a way with the influence of the West always affecting their way of life.

2. Kisetsu

    a. "Furthermore, although people eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables throughout the year in Japan, they also enjoy eating special dishes that are associated with the seasons. For example, bamboo shoots (takenoko) are a favorite in the spring, eels (unagi) are eaten in the summer, and mackerel(saba) are representative of the autumn season." Pg. 154

It is cool to see that Japan and American culture are very similar in this regard. Just like how they eat their seasonal dishes we tend to do the same thing. Corn, watermelon, hamburgers, and hotdogs are all foods we would eat in the summer. Pumpkin pie and turkey are common dishes in the fall. In the winter you tend to see many sorts of soups and chili. Seeing these similarities really shows how even though we are in completely different parts of the world, we can relate on some very basic levels.

  b. "Many people also stay awake far into the night on New Year's Eve with other members of their family to share the joy of having spent the outgoing year in good health, as they listen to shrine or temple bells ringing just before the arrival of the New Year." Pg. 156

Once again it is really cool to see that they value very similar things as we Americans do. The want to stay up and share the outgoing year into the new one is something held in regard to both cultures. The exact way in which this is accomplished is different it seems, however having a similar base allows both cultures to be more open to the other for it creates common ground between the two of them.

3. Otogibanashi

  a. "...reflecting the feeling that beautiful women who have an aura of sadness are graceful in a sense. As describes in this story, Japaneses heroines are often tragic figures and have to endure grief."      Pg. 173

I feel this is very dangerous within any culture. Since the Japanese culture highly regards their folk tales, to have women portrayed in such a way allows for a sense of control to be established over them by men. A woman "in sadness is graceful" is a very dangerous message to be sending to the younger generation. As we can see within our own culture, messages that are pushed by the media, for example, thin is beautiful, can lead to very bad and in some cases, dangerous situations on a very impressionable youth. I can only hope that these tales are held in regard to more of the cultural history rather than the message that is being portrayed.

  b. "there are two reasons why the heroine is a wonderful figure: one is her bravery to marry a poor man; the other is her intelligence in guiding him." Pg. 175

This response also reflects on the last citation. I feel the messages within the folktales to be very conflicting. In the one the idea of being able to endure grief is considered to be a virtue, which I find to be a very bad message to send out to those who are impressionable. On the other it shows a heroine who is held in high regard due to the character traits of bravery and wisdom. One I find slightly misogynistic the other is more feminist. I don't know how to feel about this, however we can see similar events occurring within American culture. If we look at the 1940's for instance, the idea of a very obedient wife was very common, however once way was eminent, this idea of a strong working woman became the face of America. So, within both cultures we can see how two very different ideals, can be held within the same time period.

4. Wabi sabi

 a. "People require mental discipline for real understandings of beauty because in this way of thinking, beauty emerges from inside objects." Pg. 228

I couldn't agree more with this statement. I really feel it is important to be able to critically think and analyze something to truly understand a thing, idea or an object. I feel that in American culture this is something lost to the vast majority of people and they tend to just take something as face value. This is a very poor way of viewing the world we live in and it definitely does not allow us to grow as a culture. I feel that this definitely helps in Japanese culture because if this idea is held as a virtue among the people, they have a distinctive advantage in the modern world. Also, within their culture, due to the virtue of ambiguity being held in such high esteem.

 b. "Although millions of people continue to learn calligraphy, tea ceremony, and flower arrangements, most do so not to develop their own distinct inner sense of beauty but simply as an imitation of models." Pg. 229

I feel this really shows how much the traditional Japan has changed to more of a modern western culture. With the influence of our culture we have changed what is valued, and while many people are willing to learn that of the past, it is more just a going through the motions kind of thing. We can see very similar occurrences within American culture as well. For instance many people go to church, pray and such not out of a divine spiritual drive, but as a way of imitating those before us. Quite honestly I feel that is the best comparison between the two instances within each culture. I know I have done one thing or another that would fit into this idea of practicing something because it is tradition to do so.