Superlegitimacy
Momus (aka Nick Currie), the postmodern David Bowie of our times, spends a hell of a lot of time in Japan. In this excellent piece, he carefully, lovingly deconstructs minor elements of social interaction and outlook, most of which underly the cultural differences between Japan and the West.
According to Currie, Japan’s collectivist, role-based society is in reality much flatter and egalitarian (although it appears very hierarchical to our eyes) than our fragmented, unequal one. The difference is in our expectations and how we approach our social roles. If you are a janitor here, it is a pretty low ranking job. You dream of doing something better. In Japan, you are The Janitor. You embrace the role and do it to the best of your ability. And society confers not just legitimacy, but superlegitimacy on that role. Currie calls it a positive upward spiral, compared to the vicious cycle of disappointment and anomie that usually occurs in the West when we find out we all can’t be astronauts and superheroes.
July 20, 2004 1:28 PM
Comments
There is that bizarre expression of ‘alienation’ - the cosplay kids, for example, or the 10,000 weekly trends that must be followed. I always see a rather weird parallel between Japan and England that way, seeing how they both have these rigid roots in caste-based hierarchies — less so today, but certainly true up till the 1970s. All those English eccentricities have to do with order and chaos: Trainspotting. Surrealist comedy and wordplay. The Arts and Crafts movement. The Campaign for Real Ale. Oscar Wilde, Glam rock (and all the great English pop eccentrics, Eno, Roxy, Bowie, Bolan, XTC, Kate Bush etc.). There was a recent book called Ordnung and Eccentricity from the graphic designer Thomas Manss, who noted that his philosophy was to find that balance between German ordnung (the need for order) and a splash of English eccentricity…
wrote aj on July 23, 2004 9:35 PM
And here I was thinking I was all alone in appreciating Momus’ writings… ;)
I fear however that in this instance Mr. Currie is optimistically naive in his assessment. While there is a greater “acceptance” of one’s place in the social/economic hierarchy, there’s just as much despair and negativity associated with the realization that one will never attain the heights one may dream of.
Cooky behavior isn’t so much accepted as it is tolerated and avoided/ignored at all costs.
Then again, in both cases, these are mere observations by hopelessly outside outsiders… ;)
wrote Boris Anthony on July 23, 2004 2:03 AM