Effects of Japanese Cultural Identity Inquiries on Japanese Nationalism (Pre Second World War Period)

Abstract

This article aims to examine the superiority discourses of the Japanese people, which can be evaluated with reference to the increasing Japanese nationalism in the pre-war period, by means of the concepts such as national unity (kokutai), country studies (kokugaku), country literature (kokubungaku) and family state system. The evolution of the thought system, which emphasized the traditional structure of the Japan and united under the imperial system (tennōsei), and the transformation of the Japanese people's supremacy arguments into Japanese militarism was traced in the historical process. This frame of mind is examined on the basis of Max Weber’s expression of “religion in the ideological agency of state”. Before and during the war years some arguments which constantly glorify the Japanese people as that the Japan is an elite nation in the world have been imposed on the Japanese people in Japan. In the process of imperialism's evolution into a pro-militarist politics and, its intersecting points with ideologues and ideologies which emphasize the local values in the past are examined. As a result, it is obvious that the Japanese nation consciousness, shaped by the external threats and evolved into extreme nationalism, was formed with the effect of the process reflecting the changing power balances as well as the effect of the colonial system in the world. Moreover, it is argued that it was a reflection of the attempts to emphasize the completeness of the nation-state consciousness in Japan. 

Keywords

• Kokutai
• nationalism
• Shintoism
• tennosei
• supremacy rhetorics of Japanese

Japonların Kültürel Kimlik Araştırmalarının Japon Milliyetçiliği Üzerindeki Etkileri (İkinci Dünya Savaşından Önceki Süreç)

Öz

Bu makalenin amacı, II. Dünya Savaşı öncesi süreçte artan Japon milliyetçiliği bağlamında değerlendirilebilecek Japon halkının üstünlük söylemlerini, ulusal birlik (kokutai), ülke çalışmaları (kokugaku), ülke edebiyatı (kokubungaku) ve aile devleti sistemi gibi kavramlar çerçevesinde incelemektir. Tarihsel süreç içinde, Japonların geleneksel yapısına vurgu yapan ve imparatorluk sistemi (tennōsei) çatısı altında birleşen düşünce sisteminin evrilerek Japon halkının üstünlüğü savlarının Japon militarizmine dönüşümünün izi sürülmüştür. Bu düşünce yapısı Max Weber’in “devletin ideolojik aygıtında din” anlayışı temelinde incelenmiştir. II. Dünya Savaşı öncesinde ve savaş yıllarında Japon halkı yüceltilmiş ve Japonların dünyada seçkin bir ulus oldukları Japon halkına empoze edilmiştir. Emperyalizm, militarizm yanlısı bir siyasete evrilme sürecinde geçmişteki yerel değerlere vurgu yapan ideologlar ve ideolojiler ile kesişen noktalar incelenmiştir. Sonuç olarak, dış tehditlerin şekillendirdiği ve aşırı milliyetçiliğe evrilen Japon ulusu bilincinin, dünyada değişen güç dengeleri ve sömürge sisteminin etkisini yansıtan sürecin tesiri ile oluştuğu ortaya konmuş, Japonya’da ulus - devlet bilincinin tamlığını vurgulama girişimlerinin bir yansıması olduğu tartışılmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Kokutai
• milliyetçilik
• Şintoizm
• tennosei
• Japonların üstünlük söylemleri

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