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CJS Noon Lecture Series | Crafting Immortality: Emotional Capital and Randoseru Victory

Sabine Frühstück, Distinguished Professor and Koichi Takashima Chair in Japanese Cultural Studies, Department of East Asian Languages & Cultural Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara
Thursday, September 12, 2024
12:00-1:30 PM
Room 1010 Weiser Hall Map
Please note: This lecture will be held in person in room 1010 Weiser Hall and virtually via Zoom. This webinar is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Once you've registered, the joining information will be sent to your email. Register for the Zoom webinar at: https://myumi.ch/egGxJ

In 1886, Prime Minister Itō Hirobumi gifted the future Taishō emperor, crown prince Yoshihito, a randoseru schoolbag at the occasion of his entering elementary school. Less than a century later, the randoseru has come to signify an inherent quality of capitalist culture, namely the intimate interconnections of consumer acts and emotional life, particularly the expression and experience of nostalgia. I propose that this nostalgia has been crafted through the social relations by which the randoseru is being circulated while specific notions of craft, childhood, and immortality are being reiterated.

Sabine Frühstück is Distinguished Professor and the Koichi Takashima Chair in Japanese Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has most recently authored the monographs Playing War: Children and the Modern Paradoxes of Militarism in Japan (University of California Press, 2017) and Gender and Sexuality in Modern Japan (Cambridge University Press, 2023). Her current research is about modern manifestations of immortality and the malleability of the human body and its parts.

This lecture is made possible with the generous support of the U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant.

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us at umcjs@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.
Building: Weiser Hall
Event Type: Lecture / Discussion
Tags: Asia, japan, Japanese Studies
Source: Happening @ Michigan from Center for Japanese Studies, International Institute, Asian Languages and Cultures

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The International Institute’s centers sponsor numerous conferences, lectures, exhibits, and cultural performances throughout the year. These events are designed to educate the university community and the public about global issues and inspire discussion and dialogue. 

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