The Ideologies of Japanese Tea : Subjectivity, Transience and National Identity

Tim Cross

ISBN 10: 1905246749 / ISBN 13: 9781905246748

Published by Brill Sep 2009, 2009

About this Item

Neuware - This provoking study of the Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu) examines the ideological foundation of its place in history and the broader context of Japanese cultural values where it has emerged as a so-called 'quintessential' component of the culture. Sen Soshitsu Xl argued that tea be viewed as the expression of the moral universe of the nation.

Seller Inventory # 9781905246748

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Ideologies of Japanese Tea : Subjectivity, Transience and National Identity
• Publisher: Brill Sep 2009
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1905246749
• ISBN 13: 9781905246748
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 226W x 147H x 28D millimeters 226 millimeters width by 147 millimeters height by 28 millimeters depth
• Weight: 567 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This provoking new study of the Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu) examines the ideological foundation of its place in history and the broader context of Japanese cultural values where it has emerged as a so called ‘quintessential’ component of the culture. It was in fact, Sen Soshitsu Xl, grandmaster of Urasenke, today the most globally prominent tea school, who argued in 1872 that tea should be viewed as the expression of the moral universe of the nation. A practising teamaster himself, the author argues, however, that tea was many other things: it was privilege, politics, power and the lever for passion and commitment in the theatre of war. Through a methodological framework rooted in current approaches, he demonstrates how the iconic images as supposedly timeless examples of Japanese tradition have been the subject of manipulation as ideological tools and speaks to presentations of cultural identity in Japanese society today.