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RICE UNIVERSITY the Affect-Emotion Gap: Soft Power, Nation Branding, and Cultural Administration in Japan by Daniel White a THES

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RICE UNIVERSITY the Affect-Emotion Gap: Soft Power, Nation Branding, and Cultural Administration in Japan by Daniel White a THES RICE UNIVERSITY The Affect-Emotion Gap: Soft Power, Nation Branding, and Cultural Administration in Japan by Daniel White - A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE Doctor of Philosophy APPROVED, THESIS COMMITTEE: Domi c oyer, Associate Pr Anthropology Christine Y ano, Professor Anthropology University of Hawaii Manoa HOUSTON, TEXAS APRIL 2011 ABSTRACT The Affect-Emotion Gap: Soft Power, Nation Branding, and Cultural Administration in Japan by Daniel White This dissertation analyzes the appropriation of the political theory "soft power" within Japanese national bureaucracies as a discursive mechanism through which anxious concerns for Japan's present are manufactured into hopeful sentiments for its future. In doing so, it examines how certain nonconscious capacities to feel, affects, are made knowable in more formally narrated and perceived sentiments, emotions. These terms constitute the two sides of what I call the affect-emotion gap, whereby the slippages between what one feels and what one knows about what one feels are made into sites of political and economic investment. Based on two years of fieldwork conducted at the major national bureaucracies engaged with cultural diplomacy and policy in Japan--the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Japan Foundation--! observe how soft power ideologies are translated into administrative policies that seek to turn aesthetic production, specifically within the field of Japanese popular culture, into political resource. Ultimately, I argue that the uneasy accommodation of soft power ideology to everyday bureaucratic practice reveals a contradictory movement in which soft power is at once delegitimized as practical policy and activated as discursive ideology which, in suturing economic anxiety in the present to hope for Japan's culture industries in the future, nonetheless sustains soft power's circulation. Acknowledgments The debt incurred from this dissertation is enormous. Thankfully, what would otherwise weigh heavily upon me as a consequential burden is lightened by the realization that little of this product is solely my own. Where it has succeeded it has relied on partnerships, collaboration, and dialogue with a great many individuals whose contributions warrant listing each of their names as authors of this dissertation as much as my own. Where it has not succeeded it has largely strayed from these individuals, treading increasingly unstable ground to the degree I isolated my own thought from theirs. With these thoughts in mind, then, I express my deepest gratitude to those who share this dissertation's meager contributions with me and reserve its shortcomings for myself. I am compelled to begin this section by thanking those who have been the most gracious and impressive of my supports. I am deeply humbled and forever indebted to my dissertation committee. James Faubion has been a hero of mine well before I entered the program and will remain so long after. The scope of his knowledge is unhuman. This would not be so entirely shocking if it weren't combined with an honest and skillful gentleness, graciousness, and carefulness. The combination of all these traits in a single individual is rare and special, a fiercely fine-tuned kind of wisdom and care, and I feel it a privilege to have shared his company and friendship over the years. Elizabeth Vann's dedication to her students is remarkable. I cannot yet fully fathom the pressures levied on faculty members who, new to a department, must take on a heavy load of new teaching and administrative responsibilities all the while facing increasing publication demands. v All this makes Libby's conscious and deliberate dedication to her teaching and to her students' needs all the more impressively selfless. She is an artful teacher and ideal advisor. Dominic Boyer joined the committee late in my research process and despite us having never been in residence at Rice together he admirably and graciously agreed to participate. He has quickly become an incredibly active and immensely helpful advisor. His insight is sharp and every single comment and recommendation he has given me has been precisely crafted and tremendously useful. I am sincerely grateful for his generosity. The creativity and diversity of Steven Lewis's thought is astonishing. I can recall a number of lunch meetings I have shared with him and other faculty members where he has startled the audience with the breadth of his insight but befriended them with the genuine affection with which he delivers it. I am enamored of his positive style of critique. Despite an enormous amount of responsibilities, Steve has always found time to thoroughly read and comment on my work and I am incredibly appreciative to him for it. Christine Yano has seemingly inexhaustible energy, which is dedicated to more projects, publications, and students than I can keep track of. This makes it all the more incredible that despite having no obligation to me as a student from a different university she agreed to join my committee. It is indicative of her unending kindness. Christine has long advised me in both formal and informal roles and my research could not be completed without her guidance. I am deeply grateful for her direction and support. The anthropology department at Rice University is without a doubt an ideal environment for intellectual work. The respectfulness, collegiality, and inspiration I received from all professors in the department have sustained my own interests in anthropology. I could not do this without them. And even if I could, I would most Vl certainly not enjoy it. The supportive and nurturing environment is like no other I've found in academia and I have often conjured ways, and not infrequently been successful, to prolong my stay. I extend my deepest thanks to Nia Georges, Stephen Tyler, George Marcus, Chris Kelty, Hannah Landecker, Tarek Elhaik, Amy Ninetto, Cymene Howe, and Julie Taylor. I could write paragraphs on each of them and I regret what little I can do to express my thanks. I must also thank Joanne Carpenter for all her assistance and the kindness which has accompanied it. Finally, I hold a special place in my heart for Carole Speranza. Despite my proclivity to raise her levels of stress, she has always exhibited a genuine friendliness. I cherish our chats and time together. My time at Rice has been made deeply significant and meaningful by all the graduate students-my friends-with whom I have shared it. I have learned immensely from them and am grateful for their friendship. I am especially indebted to my original cohort members: Ayla Samli, Michael Adair-Kriz, and Amanda Ziemba. They taught me much and their companionship, especially through the stimulating but hazardous trials of pro-seminar, has been indispensible. I also express appreciation to my adopted cohort, Stacey Pereira, Maria Vidart, and Nikki Payne, for their endearing friendship and comic relief. Two fellow students deserve special attention. First, I have never enjoyed anthropology so much as I have in Sewall Hall's basement offices in conversations over late night pizza with Nahal Naficy. No one inspires more creativity in others than Nahal and I have endlessly benefited from her friendship. Second, I would never have come this far in my project without the guidance and unwavering support of Valerie Olson. Her advice has always been equal parts incisive, encouraging, and kind and I thank her greatly for all she has done for me. I regret not being able to list all the other students to Vll whom I am also indebted. They have been exceptional as friends, enjoyable as companions, and I hope to keep them equally so as colleagues in the future. I can never repay the debt I have incurred to my friends and informants in Japan over my fieldwork term. So many of them have readily and selflessly offered their time and assistance to me with clearly nothing to gain from it. Their generosity has been inspiring. Most regretful of all is the fact that I cannot thank each of them in name. Guaranteeing their anonymity is my primary responsibility. I want to express my thanks in general terms, though, to those officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Japan Broadcasting Corporation for their time and generosity. My deepest gratitude goes to those members of the Japan Foundation who with no obligation took a special interest in my project and unknowingly shepherded it along the way. Despite impossibly demanding schedules they unhesitatingly offered help at every moment and this dissertation has been entirely dependent upon their generosity. Of those whose names I am able to mention, I offer a special thanks to Koichi Iwabuchi for his long time guidance, support, and friendship. This dissertation is as inspired by his own work as it is indebted to it. I also want to especially thank Glenda Roberts for her generosity and for the eagerness with which she has offered her assistance over my period of fieldwork. She has been an invaluable advisor to me in the field. My work has benefited from a number of other scholars in Japan without whose contributions and guidance this project could not have been completed. They have also been conscientious and generous stewards of my professional activities more generally in Japan and I know whatever progress I make in the field is due entirely to their guidance. viii I express my sincerest gratitude to David Leheny, David Slater, Watanabe Yasushi, Aoki Tamotsu, John Mock, David Willis, Ian Condry, Anne Allison, Kyle Cleveland, and Sachiko Horiguchi . Of all the many graduate students in Japan from whom I have learned so much and to whom this work is also greatly indebted, I express special thanks to Paul Hansen, Blai Guarne, Kukhee Choo, Ryan Sayre, Emma Cook, Aaron Miller, Patrick Galbraith, and, especially for an important insight on translation, Satsuki Takahashi.
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