Reference no: EM133724641
Assignment: Cultural Studies Japanese Popular Culture
A. How has kabuki changed and transformed during the Tokugawa period and how was it made "respectable" during the Meiji period. Why did the government not simply outlaw kabuki? What were the changes made by the Ichikawa family?
B. Why was the Tokugawa government so interested in controlling popular culture? What were "three-day laws"
C. Why was the "performance" of "farting" such an intellectually revolutionary act?
D. Explain how the non-samurai classes viewed the samurai class and vice versa. Provide specific examples to illustrate your points.
E. Describe the role of women in Japan and how their position has or has not changed from the Tokugawa period to today. How have the roles reflected themselves in Japanese popular culture? How do some view Japanese women's obsession with all things kawaii? How accurate is this characterization?
F. Why do we even study "popular culture" in a university setting? What can be learned from such "superficial" and "transient" cultural texts and practices? (For example, what justification do you use with your friends and family when they find out you are taking this class?)
G. Explain this quote and include specific examples: "By creating a dialogical interaction of divergent voices and perspectives, Edo popular culture created pluralized, contentious images of Tokugawa society, images that underlined contradictory realities that had become widely discernible around the turn of the eighteenth century."
H. Explain the role of rice in the Tokugawa economy. Why did the Tokugawa government want to use rice as the basic monetary system rather than money?
I. Explain Katsuya Hirano's use of the concept of "carnival." How does this concept fit in with the Tokugawa era and the regimes attempt to "control" the populace. Describe Edo Japan's version of "carnival."
J. Why is karaoke so popular in Japan? In America? What purpose does karaoke serve in each country?