Rezensionen 307 Identity. Immigrants, Minorities, and the Struggle for tantly, children learn to be “‘good’ Nikkei … and Oki na- Ethnicity in Brazil. Durham 1999), Tsuda (Strangers in wan … subjects” (113). the Ethnic Homeland. New York 2001), Linger (No One Following the approaches of Cornell and Hartmann Home. Brazilian Selves Remade in Japan. Stanford 2002), (Ethnicity and Race. Making Identities in a Changing Roth (Brokered Homeland. Japanese Brazilian Migrants World. Thousand Oaks 1998) and Miles (Racism. Lon- in Japan. Ithaca 2002), and Sugino (Nikkei Brazilians at don 1989), Suzuki defines racialization as a process rath- a Brazilian School in Japan. Factors Affecting Language er than a category. It is a dynamic process which shapes Decisions and Education. Tokyo 2008). However, Suzu- and reshapes categories with respect to (1) assumed bio- ki’s book focuses on Nikkei Bolivians, a group that has logical characteristics of a particular group, (2) inherent received significantly less attention. Furthermore, Suzuki psychological, behavioral, and/or moral characteristics of spent time in both Bolivia and Japan (in the early 2000s) members of the particular group, and (3) individuals’ re- doing detailed ethnographic research in both venues. lationships with the powers of state and capital. Suzuki Even at first glance, Suzuki shows us that the differ- also carefully points out that racialization deals with not ences between the Brazilian and Bolivian Nikkei popula- only experiences of social hardship and discrimination, tions are significant. Unlike in Brazil, where the major- but is also a rhetorical tool used in education. And eco- ity of Nikkei are descendants of mainland Japanese, in nomic powers and state authorities can contribute to how Bolivia the majority of Nikkei are descendants of Oki- individual members of a group see themselves. These is- nawans. Okinawa has had an extremely complicated so- sues are elaborated upon in chapter 5, where Suzuki also cial and political history. The island chain has maintained discusses marriage preferences to show how these com- a unique cultural and linguistic heritage in spite of its be- plicated multiple ethnic and racial identifiers are reflected coming a Japanese province in 1879, after being a rela- in legal practice. tively independent kingdom for centuries. World War II, The first studies of dekasegi workers in Japan seemed and the American invasion and postwar occupation until to suggest that the strength of Latin American Nikkei so- 1972, also contributed to its special character. And both ciety was weakening as people travel back and forth be- Okinawans and mainland Japanese are quite aware of the tween two nations. And many of the younger generations distinctions between each other, and there can often be have been growing up without experiencing much tra- much overt discrimination against Okinawans. Even Oki- ditional Japanese language or cultural activity in their nawan descendants might experience acts of prejudice as communities. However, Suzuki shows us that instead of American Gary Okihiro (Being Okinawan. In: N. Adachi abandoning a Nikkei identity, Nikkei people are dynami- [ed.], Japanese Diaporas. Unsung Pasts, Conflicting Pres- cally processing their identities under the different envi- ents, and Uncertain Futures. London 2006) described dur- ronments. ing his trip to Japan. This book deserves to have a wide audience. Suzuki Suzuki opens his book by giving us some of this his- conducted most of his research as a PhD student in the torical background, and explains how Okinawa and Boliv- Department of Anthropology at the University of Minne- ia came in contact, especially after World War II. He then sota. Usually recent PhD students have had recent field- looks at the contemporary social conditions of Oki na wans work experience to inform the doctrines they have been in Bolivia in the following chapter. During the Ameri- exposed to at home from their more-established teachers, can occupation, large numbers of Okinawans migrated and this often leads to a robust and contested interplay be- to Bolivia for economic reasons. But a poor economic tween ethnography and theory as the new scholar exam- climate in Latin America in the 1980s and a need for re- ines the data she or he has gathered. This monograph is liable manual labor in Japan during its “Economic Bub- one such nice example. Although the introductory chapter ble” caused many Japanese Bolivians and their children to contains a bit of jargon, the rest of the chapters present en- go to Japan for work. Bolivian Okinawans faced signifi- gaging ethnographic narratives. Also, while the focus of cant problems when they went to Japan as dekasegi work- the book is on one specific ethnic group Okinawans and ers. Suzuki interviewed many of these Okinawan Boliv- their descendants in Bolivia – “Embodying Belonging” ians who were working in Yokohama on the mainland. addresses important broad issues about how ethnic minor- He found they faced multiple ethnic and racial conflicts ities process their ethnic and racial identities in the face of in many permutations, with: Japanese in Japan, dekasegi globalizing hegemonic powers. Thus, this book would be workers of mainland Japanese descent, dekasegi workers an excellent resource for anyone interested in population from other Latin American countries, and non-Japanese diasporas, or for those in Asian studies, Asian American overseas workers. These various dynamics are described studies, American history, ethnic studies, anthropology, or in chapter 3. sociology. Nobuko Adachi In the following chapter Suzuki moves back to Bo- livia and examines another element of racialization: the ethnic cultural values which are passed on to those of Tof fin, Gérard : La fête-spectacle. Théâtre et rite Japanese heritage through local private schools such as au Népal. Paris : Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de those in Colonia Okinawa in Santa Cruz (Suzuki’s main l’Homme, 2010. 198 pp. ISBN 978-2-7351-1313-2. Prix : field site in Bolivia). The majority of the Japanese Boliv- € 23.00 ian children there attend these schools. Parents pay extra Cette étude monographique, fruit de plus de trente an- for high quality teachers and equipment, but more impor- nées d’observations et de réflexions, est à l’image de son Anthropos 107.2012 https://doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2012-1-307 Generiert durch IP '170.106.40.219', am 26.09.2021, 00:42:26. Das Erstellen und Weitergeben von Kopien dieses PDFs ist nicht zulässig. 308 Rezensionen objet, l’Indra Jâtrâ de Katmandou : riche, foisonnante, et spectateurs. Le chapitre 5 évoque la fonction commé- multidisciplinaire, rehaussée de descriptions vives et colo- morative de la fête, qui est l’une des occasions les plus rées, embrassant une multitude de dimensions en un seul importantes où les vivants rendent hommage aux défunts, regard et, serait-on tenté de dire, “provocante”, en raison notamment lors des processions du premier jour. Le sacri- du renouvellement théorique qu’elle propose en anthropo- fice du roi Indra y figure également, ce qui amène l’auteur logie sur les rapports entre fête, spectacle, rite et théâtre. à s’éloigner des théories du sacrifice dans le monde in- La fête d’Indra est la célébration collective la plus im- dien pour proposer (94) une lecture de la fonction royale portante de la ville de Katmandou. Elle se déroule chaque comme fondamentalement ambigüe, exprimant à la fois année sur une période de huit jours à la fin de la saison le pouvoir majestueux et l’impuissance qui menace si le des pluies (août-septembre, selon le calendrier lunaire). souverain ne fait pas les sacrifices aux dieux. A la fois procession religieuse en l’honneur de trois divi- Le texte adopte un autre angle d’approche au cha- nités importantes du panthéon hindou (Indra, Kumârî et pitre 6, où il revient sur les rapports entre rite et théâtre. Bhairava) et ensemble de représentations théâtrales, à la Ces festivités comportent un rappel, narratif et rituel, fois fête ethnique néware et célébration of ficielle de la du mythe de l’origine du théâtre, tel qu’il est présenté monarchie népalaise jusqu’à sa destitution en 2008, c’est dans des sources savantes indiennes, en particulier dans “une fête totale” (17), très investie symboliquement, es- le “Nâtyashâstra”. Quelle est dès lors la place, voire la thétiquement et émotionnellement, où un “courant em- fonction, du théâtre dans un rite pensé comme essentiel- phatique” (5) circule entre tous les participants. Les fron- lement religieux, et comment l’ethnographie actuelle au tières entre rite religieux et théâtre s’estompent, comme Népal entre-t-elle en dialogue avec les sources indiennes dans la plupart des grandes célébrations à connotation re- anciennes ? Le chapitre 7, particulièrement intéressant et ligieuse d’Asie. novateur, nous fait entrer de plein pied dans la dimen- L’approche méthodologique de l’auteur, particulière- sion esthétique de la cérémonie, et en particulier de “la ment riche, fait émerger de nouvelles voies de compré- force absolue [qui] émane de toutes ces images [divines]” hension de cette fête. Il incorpore, mais se démarque en (115). Qu’elles soient corps parés ou représentations gra- même temps, des interprétations issues de perspectives phiques ou tridimensionnelles, elles captent en effet des purement symboliques (structuralistes ou religieuses), forces surnaturelles. L’auteur tente d’établir “une gram- marxistes (refusant de voir dans cette fête la seule expres- maire de l’image” (124), en