Verbal Subversion and Satire in Japan, 1937-1945, as Documented by the Special High Police
We find much research on political opposition by individuals and by groups in Japan during the 1930s and early 1940s, but criticism expressed by the Japanese people in general at that times has been little examined. In large part that is because it was indirect and veiled. This essay focuses on sati...
| Veröffentlicht in: | Japan Review. - International Research Centre for Japanese Studies, National Institute for the Humanities. - (2003), 15, Seite 127-151 |
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| 1. Verfasser: | |
| Format: | Online-Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | English |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2003
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| Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk: | Japan Review |
| Schlagworte: | Political science Arts Behavioral sciences Social sciences Law |
| Zusammenfassung: | We find much research on political opposition by individuals and by groups in Japan during the 1930s and early 1940s, but criticism expressed by the Japanese people in general at that times has been little examined. In large part that is because it was indirect and veiled. This essay focuses on satiric comments about Japan's rulers and the political situation. Such commentary could be neard in all parts of the country. Most of the material presented here is extracted from monthly reports of the Special High Police (Tokkō Keisatsu) between 1937 and 1944. Although many of the comments that ridiculed and criticized the authorities were ephemeral and did not find their way into mainstream discourse, satirical songs and parodic argot circulated in the same way political jokes did in the Western world. Wartime humor often was aimed at the emperor and his family. Cynicism arising out of the misery caused by war was widespread. Through political parody and satire, ordinary Japanese people could at least temporarily escape their burdens and misery, and recover some of the individual dignity the government had taken from them. 1930年代から 1940年代前半に反政府運動を行った個人やグループに関する研究は、随分行われているが当時の一般の人々による批判はあまり検証されていないようである。拙稿は当時、国内の広い範囲で聞かれたような指導者層や政治状況を批判するサチりク (諷刺的)なコメントに焦点を絞るが、その資料の殆どを特別高等警察 (特高)が褊集した「月報」から抜き出した。滑稽な諷刺やグロテスク(怪奇) な誇張などはその場限りの発言で終わり、広まらなかったが、替え歌やアルゴ (俗っぽい隠語など) はむしろ西洋の政治的なジョークのように流布される傾向があった。中でも天皇やその家族を対象とする笑いと戦争による貧窮に対するシニカルな (冷笑的な) 言葉が目立つ。サチリクな発言を通して、苫難の中にあっても暫くその重荷を忘れて政府に奪われていた個人の威厳を取り戻そうとする日本人が数多くいた。 |
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| ISSN: | 24343129 |