No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The overall objective of this dissertation research was to account for heterogeneous language use closely linked to changes in speakers' social lives and ultimately to provide empirical evidence against a mythical, stereotyped view of Japan as a homogeneous speech community. As the most revealing variable, I have focused on the speech of Japanese women whose gender roles have undergone drastic transformation in contemporary society. The research consists of two particular phases of investigation. The first phase involves using the variationist approach to analyze the speech of three groups of women leading distinctive social lives: full-time homemakers, full-time working women in clerical positions and those in positions of authority. The results refute as overgeneralizations the claims of past mainstream work on Japanese gender differentiation, which has consistently defined women's language use based exclusively on middle-class full-time homemakers under the influence of the traditional ideology of complementary gender roles. Variable rule analysis reveals that differential performance grammars are operating among the three groups of women, and that the inter-group differentiation can be interpreted as social stratification more meaningfully correlated with speakers' concrete occupation-bound categories than abstract ones such as social class membership. Potential causes for such differentiation are accounted for in terms of speakers' everyday contacts with people and types of communicative routines and experiences in their occupation-bound communication networks. The second phase of the investigation sheds light on the sociolinguistic dilemmas Japanese working women in positions of leadership are likely to face. Working women in charge, a newly emerging group of women in non-traditional gender roles, tend to confront contradictions between the culturally prescribed ways of speaking for women (i.e., speaking politely, indirectly, deferentially) and the communicative requirements of their occupational status. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses of directive speech acts at a number of workplaces reveal that working women in charge characteristically use a variety of innovative sociolinguistic strategies to resolve such dilemmas. These strategies include de-feminization of overtly feminine morphosyntactic structures, contextualization to compensate for the indirect framing of directives, linguistic devices to mask power/status asymmetries with subordinates and promote collaborative rapport and peer solidarity, style-shifting of the predicate to negotiate the distribution of power, and strategic uses of polite language as an indexicality of their occupational status and identity rather than as a marker of powerlessness in conflict talk.

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine some of the distinctive qualities of traditional Chinese drama in light of comparative studies in literature and drama, especially of Richard Wagner's theory of motifs. Opposed to realism, Wagner argued that music is necessary to the finest drama, for it should be "distanced" from actual life. Wagner intended to fuse all artistic arts into his "music drama." However such drama has existed in China for at least seven hundred years. Moreover, it still keeps vigorously springing up, and greatly manifesting its vitality. The hypothesis of this dissertation is that traditional Chinese theatre has been able to survive through the historical sediment primarily due to the influence of literary motifs that have sustained the vitality of the old dramatic form. This dissertation is based on the research of three theatrical aspects: drama-in-itself, dramatic creation, and dramatic appreciation. For the area that is called "dramatic-in-itself" it deals with the general function of dramatic presentation, either for the sake of art or for moral education; for dramatic creation, it emphasizes on playwrights and their worldview of dramatic creation; and for dramatic appreciation, it examines the viewpoint of the audience. Traditional Chinese drama is a high synthesis of arts. The chief factors that promoted the formation of this art are the literary motifs resulting from the Chinese cultural tradition. Literary motifs can be traced in almost every aspect of Chinese drama: in dramatic purpose, in language, in music, in acting, in dress-up, and in stage scenery. Every aspect of Chinese drama is marked with Chinese national traits. And all these dramatic elements constitute a complexity that incorporated both representational and presentational qualities. This complexity has turned Chinese drama into a uniquely mixed art, long-lasting and durable. This dissertation will explore how literary motifs work in traditional Chinese drama. It will primarily focus conventions of music composition, poetry tradition, dramatic structure, thematic construction and theatrical movements.

Sushi is now recognized as a typical Japanese food throughout the world. Being sold in a wide variety of shops including both supermarkets and high-end restaurants, it has become one of the world's most coveted delicacies during the past few decades. This simple food has gained great popularity across the world which has resulted in a cultural phenomenon being shared across national borders and regions. Sushi's popularity and longevity contribute to both its perceived historical trajectory and its modern transformations. When talking about sushi, neither "tradition" nor "modern" can be ignored. In this thesis I will examine sushi's changes from its emergence in ancient Japan to the current sushi boom in global markets. I will explore the "authenticity" of modern sushi and its relation to its ceaseless evolution of sushi. I will show that with regulation from Japanese authorities and individuals the "Japaneseness" of sushi does continue.

The Liao dynasty, founded by the Khitans who originated from the northeast corner of Manchuria, is often characterized by its women's exceptional political authority and high social standing. This dissertation investigates various activities of the Khitan aristocratic women, particularly the imperial women, in the public realms, such as politics, military, and court ceremonies. In addition to Chinese official dynastic histories, this study utilizes archaeological data obtained largely from excavation reports of the Liao tombs that produced female occupants. This dissertation is intended to reconstruct as concrete picture of their lives as possible by adopting an interdisciplinary approach. In doing so, it seeks to explain how and why the Khitan women of the Liao dynasty were granted such high social prestige and political power. It also contemplates on the question whether the Khitans were assimilated by the Chinese culture by the late dynastic period. The first part of this study is focused on analyzing the patterns of the Khitan imperial marriage and their traditional inheritance practices in the context of the consolidation of the empire. The Liao imperial clan, the Yelu, maintained an exclusive marriage alliance with another ruling clan, the Xiao, which produced all of the Liao empresses during the entire dynastic period. This marriage alliance, devised to ensure their monopoly of power, eventually worked for the advantage of the Xiao women, as well as their clansmen who dominated the Liao political power. Women's conspicuous participation in various public affairs was deeply rooted in the Khitan tribal tradition. The Khitans lacked the Chinese concept of segregation of gender roles and the Khitan women were employed at the court in the capacity of a religious professional (shaman) or even as a military commander. The observation of the mortuary practices of the Khitan suggests that they remained attached to their cultural traditions until the late dynastic period. This can be attested by the discovery of the unique Khitan funerary paraphernalia, such as gold masks and metal burial suits, and the evidence of animal sacrifices in their tombs.

There is some evidence suggesting that the rate of breastfeeding initiation is lower among particular ethnic or cultural groups who have immigrated to Canada and South Asian women comprise one of these groups. Given the evidence that breastfeeding is important in promoting infant health and maternal health, it is important to understand factors that influence breastfeeding initiation among South Asian immigrant women. This descriptive exploratory study investigated the following research question: What are South Asian women's perceptions about the social, socio-economic, personal and acculturation factors that influence their initiation of breastfeeding? The study explored factors that could influence the initiation of breastfeeding among primiparous South Asian immigrant women who have immigrated to Canada. It was informed in part by the conceptual framework used by Kong and Lee (2004), whose study investigated factors that influenced 252 first-time mothers in their decision-making about whether or not to breastfeed. A convenience sample of 15 subjects was interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide with 10 questions. Data were transcribed and analyzed using inductive constant comparative analysis. The following themes emerged: the representation of breastfeeding, vicarious learning about breastfeeding, family influences, spiritual connection, breaking with tradition, resisting the moral mandate, deferring to medical authority, transition to work and cultural mores. With respect to the findings, implications are discussed for nursing research, theory and education.

<p>A central question in aesthetics is whether aesthetic judgment is subjective or objective. Existing approaches to answering this question have been unsatisfying because they begin with the assumption of an individual observer that must then be communalized through the introduction of a transcendent object or the transcendental reason of the subject. </p><p> Rather than introduce a vertical transcendence to account for the ideal observer, I propose an alternative account based on the anthropology of the Japanese philosopher W<p style="font-variant: small-caps">ATSUJI</p> Tetsur&omacr;. According to Watsuji, human existence is a movement of double negation whereby we negate our emptiness in order to individuate ourselves and we negate our individuality in order to form communal wholes. Human beings are empty of independent existence, and thus open to create ideal aesthetic subjects in historically and regionally situated communal contexts. </p><p> I propose an account of aesthetic experience as a double negation in which we negate our surroundings in order to create a sense of psychical distance and negate our ordinary selves in order to dissolve into the background of primordial unity. I examine aesthetic normativity and find that the subject of aesthetics is active and plural rather than passive and individual. Aesthetic judgment and taste are, respectively, individual and communal moments in the process of double negation. Artistic evolution is a process by which the context of artist, artwork, and audience develop into a meaningful historical milieu. Genius is the ability to make public one&rsquo;s private values through the creation of objects that can travel beyond their original contexts and create new contexts around them. Such an ability is the result of a double negation played out between the genius and critical receptivity. </p><p> Extended examples taken from Noh theater, Japanese linked verse, tea ceremony, and <i>The Tale of Genji</i> are also used to illustrate my arguments. </p>

Infinite Rain is based on three different T'ang and Sung lyric poems. Lyric poetry refers to poems composed to certain tunes. These three lyric poems come from different Chinese dynasties, but they all depict rain in varying moods. Musically, there are three sections, but without breaks between the sections; hence the title, Infinite Rain. The formal structure of the entire work is in arch form: there are two divisions in the first movement, the second movement is in ABA form, and there two divisions in the last. The basic materials of the in three sections are related, and are used throughout the work. (1) Ripples Shifting Sand was written by Li Yu (937--978), in the Southern T'ang of Five Dynasty, and expresses the sadness of the poet through a description of springtime's everlasting rain. (2) A Fisherman's Song, was written by Zhang Zhi-he (730--782), in the T'ang Dynasty. The fisherman of this poem is symbolic of man in harmony with nature. The fisherman was enjoying life, as he fished in a light rain. The solo cello is used to imitate the most characteristic Chinese of instrument, the Ch'in, a long fretted zither. (3) Bells Ringing in the Rain, was written by Liu Yong (987--1053) during the Sung Dynasty, and describes a sudden heavy shower on an autumn day. This is the most emotional and expressive poem of the three. The lyric depicts the sorrow of a pair of lovers bidding farewell before the pavilion at the city gate of the capitol.