scholarly journals Calligraphy, Aesthetics, and Character in The Tale of Genji

2019 ◽  
pp. 175-200
Author(s):  
Tomoko Sakomura
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Moral Judgment ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Tale Of Genji ◽  
Imperial Court ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
Poetry And Music

Until the late nineteenth century, when the Western, or Renaissance, conception of art—painting, sculpture, and architecture—was introduced to Japan, calligraphy reigned supreme as cultural practice and artifact. Calligraphy, alongside poetry and music, was fundamental to a proper education at the imperial court, the setting of The Tale of Genji. Marks produced with a pliable brush and ink function practically as records of thought and intent but also perform aesthetically. Genji includes hundreds of mentions of calligraphy, demonstrating its centrality in interactions between characters. From Genji, we learn how calligraphy revealed a sense of self and of others, how calligraphy was an object of aesthetic and moral judgment, and what role it served in intersubjective relations.

scholarly journals From Aristocratic to Ordinary: Shifting Modes of Elite Distinction

2020 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Friedman ◽  
Aaron Reeves
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Cultural Participation ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Elite Culture ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
Over Time

How do elites signal their superior social position via the consumption of culture? We address this question by drawing on 120 years of “recreations” data ( N = 71,393) contained within Who’s Who, a unique catalogue of the British elite. Our results reveal three historical phases of elite cultural distinction: first, a mode of aristocratic practice forged around the leisure possibilities afforded by landed estates, which waned significantly in the late-nineteenth century; second, a highbrow mode dominated by the fine arts, which increased sharply in the early-twentieth century before gently receding in the most recent birth cohorts; and, third, a contemporary mode characterized by the blending of highbrow pursuits with everyday forms of cultural participation, such as spending time with family, friends, and pets. These shifts reveal changes not only in the contents of elite culture but also in the nature of elite distinction, in particular, (1) how the applicability of emulation and (mis)recognition theories has changed over time, and (2) the emergence of a contemporary mode that publicly emphasizes everyday cultural practice (to accentuate ordinariness, authenticity, and cultural connection) while retaining many tastes that continue to be (mis)recognized as legitimate.

scholarly journals From Aristocratic to Ordinary: Shifting Modes of Elite Distinction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Reeves ◽  
Sam Friedman
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Cultural Participation ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Elite Culture ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
Over Time

How do elites signal their superior social position via the consumption of culture? We address this question by drawing on 120 years of “recreations” data (N = 71,393) contained within Who’s Who, a unique catalogue of the British elite. Our results reveal three historical phases of elite cultural distinction: first, a mode of aristocratic practice forged around the leisure possibilities afforded by landed estates, which waned significantly in the late-nineteenth century; second, a highbrow mode dominated by the fine arts, which increased sharply in the early-twentieth century before gently receding in the most recent birth cohorts; and, third, a contemporary mode characterized by the blending of highbrow pursuits with everyday forms of cultural participation, such as spending time with family, friends, and pets. These shifts reveal changes not only in the contents of elite culture but also in the nature of elite distinction, in particular, (1) how the applicability of emulation and (mis)recognition theories has changed over time, and (2) the emergence of a contemporary mode that publicly emphasizes everyday cultural practice (to accentuate ordinariness, authenticity, and cultural connection) while retaining many tastes that continue to be (mis)recognized as legitimate.

Passing——and Failing——in Late-Nineteenth-Century Russia; or Why We Should Care about the Cuts in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto

2003 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-234
Author(s):  
Raymond Knapp
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Specific Treatment ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
Slow Movement ◽  
Violin Concerto ◽  
The Core ◽  
Imperial Court ◽  
Late Nineteenth

The traditional cuts in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto include nearly half of a developmental passage in the first movement and a series of shorter cuts in the finale. The first-movement cut comes after the second tutti, a triumphant thematic culmination that rings false on two levels, since it is a "polonaise" in 4/4, and since there has been no first tutti. The developmental passage that follows seems to confirm Tchaikovsky's self-confessed weakness in handling large-scale forms, but may arguably constitute an "anti-development" that sets up a mincing violin variation, which, in falling between two versions of the orchestral tutti and rescuing the larger group from its developmental ineptitude, models a homosexuality closeted within the aristocracy (this structural grouping reappears in the original slow movement). The various instances of "passing" in this movement (the faux polonaise, the "second tutti," the "anti-development," and a gradually emergent octatonic element in the violin climax just before these events) relate to Tchaikovsky's own "passing" dilemma, both as a homosexual and as a Russian nationalist working within Germanic forms; his specific treatment reflects the fact that the concerto was composed between his disastrous marriage and his later affiliation with the imperial court. A particular marker for Tchaikovsky's musical "passing" is the blended octatonic passage in the main theme of the finale——which, however, forms the core of the series of traditional cuts in that movement.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document