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The construction of collective identity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Shmuel Noah Eisenstadt  and
Bernhard Giesen
Shmuel Noah Eisenstadt
Affiliation:
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem(Jerusalem).
Bernhard Giesen
Affiliation:
European University Institute(Florence).
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Abstract

A general typological model for the analysis of collective identify is outlined and applied to the case of German and Japanese national identity. Primordial, civic and cultural codes of boundary construction are described with respect to their logic of exclusion, corresponding rituals etc. German national identity is presented as a cultural project carried by the ‘Bildungsbürgertum’, whereas the Japanese identity is presented as a combination of primordial and civic elements.

Nous traçons ici un modèle général typologique d'analyse de l'identité collective pour l'appliquer à l'identité nationale allemande et japonaise. Nous décrivons d'abord les codes civiques et culturels qui établissent une frontière en ce qui concerne la logique d'exdusion et les rituels qui en découlent. L'identité nationale allemande est présentée comme un projet culturel issu du ≪ Bildungsbürgertum ≫ (Éducation bourgeoise), tandis que l'identité japonaise est présentée comme un mélange d'éléments fondamentaux et civiques.

Wir skizzieren ein allgemeines typologisches Modell zur Analyse kollektiver Identität und wenden es auf die deutsche und japanische Volksidentität an. Die Beschreibung bürgerlicher und kultureller Indizes, die zum Aufbau eines Abgrenzungsgebildes beitragen, bezieht die Ausschlußmechanismen und deren Riten mit ein. Die deutsche Identität wird als kulturelles, vom Bildungsbürgertum getragenes Projekt beschrieben, während die japanische Identität als eine Mischung aus fundamentalen und bürgerlichen Elementen beschrieben wird.

Type
Research Article
Information
European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , May 1995 , pp. 72 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © Archives Européenes de Sociology 1995

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References

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(69) H. Watanabe makes a similar observation: ‘This relationship of samurai and his lord is extremely different, in any phase, from that of the Chinese scholar-official and emperor. And of course it is dissimilar to the Neo-Confucian ideal of this relationship … A disciple of Zhu Xi wrote in the biography of his master. The master worried about the affairs of state all the time. When he heard the defects of the current administration, he was distressed. When he spoke of the deteriorated situation of the state, tears would at last drop from his eyes. However, he respected the ancient manner, Li that a virtuous man hesitates to serve. Therefore whenever he was offered an official position, he tried hard to decline it. He made much of the ancient manner, Li that a good vassal does not hesitate to resign. Therefore whenever his opinion did not coincide with the lord's he resigned immediately. He dared not impair the Way to get and keep his official position. He dared not compromise with vulgar opinions, because he had sympathy with the people … This is a very rationalistic relationship. There is no emotional attachment to the lord. He shied away from serving, because he respects the principle more…’ ‘… We can see the rationalistic, normative character of Zhu Xi's image of the lord-vassal relationship here. The contrast with samurai's relationship and his lord is really remarkable. And yet the Japanese Confucianists thought of samurai's relationship when they read Neo-Confucian teachings on the scholar-official's relationships. They must have been embarrassed sometimes. They understand that what they were talking about was quite different from what Chinese philosophers had talked about … So here too was a big task for Japanese Confucianists. It seems to me that most of them accepted or compromised with the samurai version of the loyalty relationship’. ‘… Unlike in China, in Japan a vasal's duty to the lord often came to be regarded as prior to this duty to his father, as many scholars have pointed out. And Confucianists almost unanimously applauded the deed of Ako masterless samurai, the hero of the famous play Chushingura, though there were a few conspicuous expections’. Watanabe, H., The Transformation of Neo-Confucianism in Early Tokugawa Japan,Paper presented at the conference on Confucianism of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences(Cambridge, Mass.,1992)Google Scholar.