Once the subject is understood to be not "the Japanese" but the
culture of the pre-World War II ruling classes of Japan (the army,
civil bureaucrats, academicians), Singer's rather abstract
observations achieve a definite, if fragile, reality (a German
refugee teaching in Tokyo, he wrote this in 1945). The national
character of the elite Japanese, he found, developed in a childhood
"almost free from any restraint"; then came discipline: "When the
student graduates from his university he is like a tree enclosed
within a hard and colorless bark," The language itself, devious and
purposely ambiguous, invites concealment. Thriving on "suffering,
patience, toleration of abuses," life was mediated through peer
pressure and small-group relationships, "a pattern of patterns," so
that individual creativity was suppressed, with stress "laid on the
harmony of the whole. . .preferably enshrined in semi-conscious
automatisms." Singer's discussion of Japanese culture vis-a-vis
Chinese, Japanese calligraphy, poetry, legends and religion,
pinpoints the impact of the intense formalism of the people, a
character trait (as Richard Storry, British Japanese scholar, notes
in his introduction here) which to this day underlies the Japanese
personality. The book suggests that Singer himself had not fully
solved the formalism/creativity question but his awareness of the
duality enabled him to deal potently and sensitively with the
"fundamental pattern." (Kirkus Reviews)
First published in the 1970s, this work offers an interpretation of
the essence of Japanese society and individual psychology. It
explores the mind and soul of the Japanese, and points to the
hidden laws of Japanese life which have created the character of
the country.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
