Comments on: Japanophilia

By: Jonathan Dresner

Jonathan Dresner — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 03:33:48 +0000

It’s not a bad distinction, but I still think it dehistoricizes the term more than necessary; I’m not convinced that the people who slap it on blueberry muffins don’t mean something by it.

If I want to be stubborn, I could try to argue that they are referencing the culinary tradition of Zen, though in a distinctly NorthEastern way, of simple, healthful, vegetarian food….

More seriously, though, I think “Zen” in these cases is probably a cool code for “hippy, but clean” or “sixties, without drugs.” “Zen” is also a cool word: it’s short, simple, doesn’t really mean anything (I’ll be honest), and starts with a Z (which is a very popular letter right now).

I’m trying to think of other cases of religious groups whose names take on commercial meaning, and the only ones that are coming to mind are “Quaker Oats” and “Jew harp” (which is a generic name, of course, not a perfect match). There’s the Amana appliances, which take their name from the communitarian Christian movement in Iowa which started the line, but it’s a place name first. There’s Pennsylvania Dutch paints.

You might also want to look at the use of “Lotus”, which is a very rare flower, except in certain sutras….

By: Morgan Pitelka

Morgan Pitelka — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 00:23:37 +0000

This is getting interesting. Could we distinguish between references to Zen that at least acknowledge the existence of spiritual beliefs and practices, such as meditation, on the one hand, and references that seem only to connect the product to exotic Oriental otherness? Xeni Jardin’s “WebZen” posts and Jon Stewart’s “Moment of Zen” seem to me to riff off of the idea of the non-logic of koans and the notion of walking meditation, while Zen blueberry muffins and shampoo . . . Well, I have trouble seeing the connection.

By: Jonathan Dresner

Jonathan Dresner — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 17:06:35 +0000

I agree that the use of “zen” is detached from its theological context, but I think there’s actually a history of that detachment: it’s detached, not unrelated. That “transnational flow” has eddies and offshoots which I think lead pretty directly to things like Jon Stewart’s “Moment of Zen”….

Downer is what I mean, yes. I’ve skimmed bits and pieces of it (I teach a course on Japanese Women which I think it might be useful for someday), but not read it closely. I was kind of hoping you had and could tell me more about it….

By: Morgan Pitelka

Morgan Pitelka — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 16:46:09 +0000

I guess I’m talking about something different from the 20th century transnational flow of Zen, which ranged from nationalist promotion to Orientalist appropriations to some pretty serious engagement. The uses of Zen that I see flourishing in the world have no relation to originary meaning (I think this is typical of postmodern configurations of language; what is absent, I think, is what Derrida called the “transcendental signified,” though I’m not really much of a deconstructionist) and instead are playing off problematic associations with bigger stereotypes about Japanese culture.

I assume you mean Lesley Downer’s _Madame Sadayakko: The Geisha Who Bewitched the West_? Maybe from 2003? I haven’t read it or intended to use it. Do you recommend it?

By: Jonathan Dresner

Jonathan Dresner — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 05:09:22 +0000

I blame DT Suzuki.

The presentation of Zen in America as a mystical philosophy, with aesthetic — rather than ethical or emotional — implications goes way back (Nitobe should get his share of the blame, too, as well as whatshisname… Okakura, the tea/zen guy). The Japanese government contributed further by hyping the samurai ideal, which brought forward nihilism (and there’s a good dose of nihilism in Zen, some say) as a “Japanese” trait.

Are you using the recent book on Sadayakko?