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Scandal, Ritual and Media in Postwar Japan プルシャ イゴール

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Scandal, Ritual and Media in Postwar Japan プルシャ イゴール 博士論文 Scandal, Ritual and Media in Postwar Japan （戦後日本におけるスキャンダル、儀礼、メディア） プルシャ イゴール 1 2 論文の内容の要旨 論文題目 Scandal, Ritual and Media in Postwar Japan 戦後日本におけるスキャンダル、儀礼、メディア 氏名 PRUSA Igor プルシャ イゴール While drawing on theoretical arguments from media studies and cultural sociology, this thesis addresses the role of scandal in postwar Japan. I present an outline of what can be labeled as scandalogy, and introduce the historical background of scandal in Japan and the West. Furthermore, I locate the social phenomena of transgression and scandal in a wider field of social practice, and provide a theoretical package for critical analysis of media scandal as framed narrative and spectacular (pseudo)event. While utilizing the scope of contemporary neofunctionalist thought, I approach the social function of scandal as social drama and performance, semantically located between ritual (motivated expressive behavior) and strategy (conscious strategic action). After addressing the role 3 of scandal, media and corruption in Japanese postwar society, I closely elaborate on three selected scandals: the Sakai Noriko celebrity scandal (2009), the Ozawa Ichirō political scandal (2009-12), and the corporate scandal of the Olympus Corporation (2011-12). Based on the output from these case studies, I offer theoretical implications for the scandal mediation process in contemporary Japan, while highlighting the modi operandi of the mainstream media, weekly tabloids, and other outside media as the key players in a scandal-network of collusion and collaboration. Furthermore, I develop a model of scandal mediation in Japan, during which the mainstream media, the power elites, the business circles, and other interdependent forces intersect in sociopolitical and journalistic fields of struggle. While approaching media scandal as a commercialized product of the journalistic rituals of objectivity, I also touch upon the performance of scandal as a mediatized ritual of pollution, purification through exclusion, and reintegration. My basic assumption is that scandal is a multifaceted social phenomenon: while simultaneously serving the interests of capitalistic media institutions, the scandal- rituals define social norms, reflect the values of society, and manage social transgression. If exposed, scandals often represent highly popular media commodities, but they do not seem to prevent future elite deviances, and they do not make the collusion of power structures in Japan more transparent. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................... 4 LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................ 11 I. .......................................................................................................................................................... 12 GOALS, METHODS AND LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................. 12 1. THE RITUALIZATION OF SCANDAL IN POSTWAR JAPAN ...................................... 13 2. READING SCANDOLOGY: FROM THE ROOTS TO PRESENT RESEARCH ............... 19 3. WIDENING THE SCOPE: APPROACHING SCANDAL AS SOCIAL RITUAL .............. 32 II. ........................................................................................................................................................ 42 THE SOCIAL MEANING OF SCANDAL ..................................................................................... 42 1. TOWARD BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF SCANDAL ................................................. 43 1.1. Historical and Etymological Contexts of Scandal ..................................................... 43 1.2. Contemporary Uses of Scandal Terminology ............................................................ 54 1.3. Alternative Typology of Scandal Theory .................................................................. 58 1.4. Defining Ideal-type Media Scandal ......................................................................... 63 5 2. LOCATING TRANSGRESSION AND SCANDAL IN SOCIAL COLLECTIVITY ........... 66 2.1. Maintaining the Sacredness of Social Collectivity .................................................... 66 2.2. Transgression as Prelude to Scandal ........................................................................ 73 2.3. Scandal as Sociological Phenomenon ...................................................................... 77 3. THEORIZING SCANDAL AS TEXT ............................................................................ 81 3.1. Media Scandal as Narrative .................................................................................... 82 3.2. Media Scandal as Frame ......................................................................................... 90 3.3. Media Scandal as Event .......................................................................................... 95 3.4. Media Scandal as Spectacle .................................................................................. 102 III. ..................................................................................................................................................... 105 APPROACHING SCANDAL AS RITUAL .................................................................................. 105 1. SCANDAL AS SECULAR RITUAL WITH SACRED AMBITIONS ............................. 106 1.1. Scandal as Social Performance .............................................................................. 106 1.2. Bridging Ritual and Scandal Theory ...................................................................... 110 1.3. On the Japanese Sense of Ritual ............................................................................ 117 6 2. PERFORMING THE RITUAL OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ...................................... 124 2.1. Confession and Apology ....................................................................................... 127 2.2. The Ritual of Exclusion ........................................................................................ 139 2.3. Toward Reintegration ........................................................................................... 143 3. ON HEGEMONIC USES OF THE SCANDAL-RITUAL .............................................. 149 3.1. The Hegemonic Force of Media Scandals .............................................................. 149 3.2. Rendering Corruption as Human-Interest Story ...................................................... 156 3.3. Scapegoating and Attack-Politics .......................................................................... 160 IV. ..................................................................................................................................................... 165 MEDIATING SCANDAL IN POSTWAR JAPAN ....................................................................... 165 1. UNIVERSAL AND PARTICULAR QUALITIES OF JAPANESE SCANDAL ................ 166 2. CORRUPTION AND SCANDAL IN POSTWAR JAPAN.............................................. 172 2.1. Locating Corruption in Political Practice ............................................................... 173 2.2. Historical Observations of Political Corruption in Postwar Japan ............................. 178 2.3. Collusion and Competition of Power Circles in Japanese Scandal ............................ 184 7 3. SCANDAL CONSEQUENCES IN POSTWAR JAPAN ................................................. 196 3.1. General Typology of Scandal Consequences .......................................................... 196 3.2. The Impact of Power Scandals in Postwar Japan .................................................... 200 3.3. On the Nontransformativity of Japanese Scandal .................................................... 210 4. THE JAPANESE PUBLIC AND SCANDAL RECEPTION ........................................... 214 4.1. On Affective Attitudes of Scandal Audiences ......................................................... 214 4.2. Scandal Typology Based on Public Involvement .................................................... 220 4.3. Scandal as Popular Media Commodity .................................................................. 226 5. SOME IDIOSYNCRASIES OF SCANDAL REPORTING IN JAPAN ............................ 229 5.1. Mediopolitical Background: Economic and Professional Structures ......................... 229 5.2. Political Journalism and the Use of Japanese Language .......................................... 232 5.3. Bottom-up Mediation and the Role of Tabloids ...................................................... 237 6. THE STRUCTURE OF THE SCANDAL MEDIATION PROCESS IN JAPAN ............... 249 6.1. Initiation Phase: Scoop Leak to the Media ............................................................. 252 6.2. Pre-scandal Phase: Data Processing ....................................................................... 256 6.3. Scandal Proper: Transgression Going Public .......................................................... 259 8 6.4. Scandal Climax: Confessions and Damages ........................................................... 265 6.5. Post-scandal Phase: Return to Normality ............................................................... 267 6.6. Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 270 V. ......................................................................................................................................................
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