framework called “la solita forma” in which operas followed a standardized pattern based in building drama and increasing complexity (Beghelli, 2011, p.97). This formula enabled Rossini and other composers to maintain a high volume of output over a short period of time without sacrificing quality or audience reception. A result of method was work that often lacked thematic recurrence and had a segmented quality. Instead of his music consistently informing itself, Rossini’s “melody...breaks off…
economic needs. Japan at that point was militarily weak, it had no technological advancements and its economy was mainly aided through agriculture. Before the restoration, Japan was controlled by hundreds of semi-independent feudal lords. The Meiji period…
People like to believe they have control over their own decisions; however, all decisions and all actions are taken under a system of laws and moral and cultural codes ingrain into everyone since childhood. In Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract, he notes that state of nature is where everyone is free and at peace, but as population grows and people’s needs changes, humans starts to group themselves together, loosing that freedom. Socially, one must lose their individual freedom for…
Judith Kegan Gardiner writes in On Female Identity and Writing by Women that “[f]emale identity is a process and writing by women engages us in this process as the female seeks to define itself in the experience of creating art” (361). Elaine Showalter takes the case further in her discussion of gender differences in determining “whether sex differences in language use can be theorized in terms of biology, socialization, and culture; whether women can create new languages of their own; [and]…
minutest physical characteristics, like hair color, can give reason for this baseless prejudice. Early records in japan indicate an “untouchable” social class that occupied undesirable jobs like tending to the dead and butchery. Since the Japanese Edo Period from 1600 to 1867, there has existed a strict social hierarchy. In the lowest rung of this hierarchy are burakumin, which translates to “village people”. The offensiveness of this designation is not apparent until it is…
The Elephant Vanishes can be seen as a manifestation of modernization and homogenization of Japanese culture through the influence of westernization. Murakami is particularly interested in the way that the characters react towards the changing society. Throughout the collection, he writes about the consequence of westernization by exploring the seriousness of Japan as a vanishing culture. This idea is most profound in the beginning and the end story of the collection The Wind-up Bird and…
Introduction Fukoku-Kyōhei, meaning “enrich the country and strengthen the military” quickly became the motto for a reinvigorated Japan stepping onto the global stage commanded by the West, while also acting as the mold for which they would inevitably fit through their rather abrupt transformation: The Meiji Restoration (Christensen 1). What may have ultimately began as an endeavor to modernize, may have also become the trigger for exponential societal change and an undertaking that would…
In his novel titled Kokoro, Natsume Soseki explores the values of both the traditional society and the modern ideals brought about in the Meiji Era. The Meiji Era is a period of Japanese history (1868-1912) in which Emperor Meiji took the throne and enforced extreme social change. Prior to the Meiji Era, the Japanese culture withheld Confucian values that placed emphasis on a harmonious, collective society, education, extreme respect to authorities, and focus on human relationships rather than…
Question:Discuss the impact of the Tokugawa Shogunate on Japan Introduction: The Tokugawa Shogunate was the last feudal military government in Japan and ushered a new era of growth where Japan was not on the brink of civil war and was rapidly growing.There were many impacts on Japan,firstly there was great cultural growth and popularization of traditional and new cultures,from this there were also social and economic changes.These changes impacted Japan and still has effects on the modern day…
Grant Voth provides details about the Tale of Genji. The Tale of Genji is a Japanese literary work written by Murasaki Shikibu during the Heian period. It is considered as the first novel written in the world. The Tale of Genji focuses on Genji, who is the son of an emperor and demoted to a commoner after he was born. The reason why Genji’s father demoted his son to a commoner was in order to protect him. Genji’s father (i.e., the emperor) had many wives, who are constantly competing with…