A Outra Face da Lua - Escritos sobre o Japão

by Claude Lévi-Strauss

É um Lévi-Strauss apaixonado pelo Japão que se encontra neste volume que reúne pela primeira vez diversos escritos, inéditos ou impressos em publicações eruditas, por vezes unicamente no Japão, redigidos entre 1979 e 2001. Da variedade destes textos surge um olhar senão indulgente, pelo menos por vezes generoso, a respeito dos japoneses.

Genres: Japan, Anthropology, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Cultural, France, History

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist, well-known for his development of structural anthropology. He was born in Belgium to French parents who were living in Brussels at the time, but he grew up in Paris. His father was an artist, and a member of an intellectual French Jewish family. Lévi-Strauss studied at the University of Paris. From 1935-9 he was Professor at the University of Sao Paulo making several expeditions to central Brazil. Between 1942-1945 he was Professor at the New School for Social Research. In 1950 he became Director of Studies at the Ecole Practique des Hautes Etudes. In 1959 Lévi-Strauss assumed the Chair of Social Anthroplogy at the College de France. His books include The Raw and the Cooked, The Savage Mind, Structural Anthropology and Totemism (Encyclopedia of World Biography).

Some of the reasons for his popularity are in his rejection of history and humanism, in his refusal to see Western civilization as privileged and unique, in his emphasis on form over content and in his insistence that the savage mind is equal to the civilized mind.

Lévi-Strauss did many things in his life including studying Law and Philosophy. He also did considerable reading among literary masterpieces, and was deeply immersed in classical and contemporary music.

Lévi-Strauss was awarded the Wenner-Gren Foundation's Viking Fund Medal for 1966 and the Erasmus Prize in 1975. He was also awarded four honorary degrees from Oxford, Yale, Havard and Columbia. Strauss held several memberships in institutions including the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society (Encyclopedia of World Biography).

Reviews

[Sinem A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Japon mitolojisinin bazı öğeleri üzerinden Japonya ya dair birşeyler söyleyen kitap kesinlkle bu ülkeye dair bir kaynak değil. Daha çok Japonyadaki antropoji araştırmacıları için yazılmış ülkenin başka ülkelerle özellikle Fransa diğer asya ülkeleri ve doğu ülkeleri ile benzerlik ve farklılıkları üzerine bir inceleme ve yine bu ülkelerin ve hatta amerikan mitolojisi ile benzerlikleri üzerine bir sunum niteliğinde. Asıl merakınız Japonyadan ziyade karşılaştırmalı antropoloji ve mitoloji ise okunabilir.

[Tosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is it about Japan that makes the foreigner so gitty and all of a sudden one remarks about 'nature. ' There are just two foreign writers who I think caught Japan in an interesting light. One is Roland Barthes, and the other (and more importantly so) is Donald Richie. The rest I'm afraid are tourists. Bear in mind that I myself, even after 25 years, is still a tourist in mind. But at least I recognize my own bullshit when I yak-yak about Japan. But then again, I am certainly not Claude Lévi-Strauss.

This is a book that is sort of put together as glue and paste, but one that is well done. Most of the pieces here are speeches he gave in Tokyo about Japaense culture, and Lévi-Struass was bitten by the bug of love when it comes to Japan. And rightfully so, because I find myself in the same boat, but he knows more about mythology than me. The beauty of Richie is that he knew the mythology, but he also knew Shinjuku and Shibuya life as well. And my experience is one can't separate those two worlds - accept both.

The book is interesting in that you have one of the great French minds reflecting on Japanese culture, but still, he does not pass beyond that. Barthes I feel went beyond the boundaries to make interesting and quite original thoughts on Japan and its culture. This book is a good thing, but Lévi-Strauss didn't do the extra mile. Perhaps he needed to stay in Asakusa and sees some street theater instead of Noh. Or just spent an evening watching NHK Tevlevison. No mention of Enka! No, well, this continues to be an interesting book.

[عمر الحمادي · Rating 2 out of 5]

الكتاب بحاجة إلى خلفية مسبقة بالثقافة اليابانية، وفيه العديد من الانطباعات المكررة التي قد لا تكون دقيقة.

[Badfogg · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who is interested in Japanese folklore and way of life. The texts are insightful and beautifully connected. I read it multiple times:)

[Yalin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eğer amacınız Japon toplumu üzerine bir kitap okumak ise (benim öyle idi) malesef bu kitap, her ne kadar bilgi yüklü olsa da, size yardımcı olacak bir kaynak değil. Antropoloji ve kültürel çalışmalar konusunda da genel bir kaynaktan ziyade ya Lévi-Strauss'un çok dar konularda izlenim ve fikirlerini ya da çalışma sonucu edindiği bilgisini paylaştığı bir derleme bu kitap. Bazı noktalarda çeviri, anlaşılmaz veya hatalı olmamakla beraber, orijinal metne sadık kalma çabasından olsa gerek çok zorlaşabiliyor. Ancak yine de başarılı bir eser.

[Hulyacln · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘Ayın Öteki Yüzü-Japonya Üzerine Yazılar’, Japonya’ya aşık bir antropolog Levi-Strauss’un fikirlerini sunuyor.
Ancak denemeden ziyade akademik bir dile sahip olduğunu söylemeliyim.Japonya mitolojisi,karşılaştırmalı kültür incelemeleri gibi konuya dair bir fikri olmayanlar için uygun bir okuma olduğunu düşünmüyorum.Diğer bir nokta ise çevirmen notlarının yetersizliği idi.
Yazarın Junzo Kawada ile gerçekleştirdiği konuşma ise kitaba dair en sevdiğim yer oldu.

[Andre Abukawa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interessante a abordagem do autor em relação à cultura japonesa. Faz incursões na história, folclore, trabalho dos artesãos.

[Đăng Dương · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Tôi thích Nhật Bản bởi sự kết hợp giữa giá trị truyền thống và yếu tố hiện đại" nhưng mà là viết bởi Strauss

[Cláudia Andrade · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's better to read this book when you already know a lot about Japanese culture and geography, because you will understand better the idea of the author when he compares Japanese culture with American and European culture. But if you are a curious about Japan like I am you will find it quite useful as well because you will find yourself in the middle of a lot of words and information that you will want to find out about it.

[Nicola Di Leva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Raccolta di conferenze, prefazioni e un'intervista sui viaggi che Lévi-Strauss compì in Giappone e sulla sua ammirazione del paese.
Libro mal organizzato: spesso concetti, esempi e addirittura interi paragrafi si ripetono nei vari scritti (anche perché Lévi-Strauss non era un esperto del tema per sua stessa ammissione).
Il curatore non è riuscito a imbastire un filo logico tra questi scritti sparsi, a parte il tema comune, che pare pretestuoso.
Sembra un libro devozionale, e la piccola e inutile raccolta fotografica lo testimonia (che senso hanno le foto di Lévi-Strauss nella sua casa in campagna?)
Il primo scritto però, il più organico, è un piacere da leggere, e sparsi nel libro ci sono idee e storie molto interessanti per chi non conosce (o molto poco) la cultura giapponese, tema molto affascinante.

[M. Taha Tunc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Japon kültürünün özgüllüğünü ve diğer kültürlerle (özellikle de Batı’yla) kurduğu ilişkiyi antropolojik veriler ışığında aydınlatmaya çalışıyor buradaki yazılarda Lévi-Strauss. Japon kültürünün mitlerinin Amerikan yerlilerinin mitleriyle karşılaştırdığı yerler özellikle dikkat çekici şeyler barındırıyor. Bunun yanı sıra, yer yer de olsa, antropolojik araştırmanın, genel olarak da sosyal bilim araştırmalarının nasıl yollar izleyebileceğine dair güzel fikirler var.

[Noah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not enjoy the first part at all because it reads as a Japanophile's praise of an oriental utopia that doesn't exist in reality. However, he admits to this in the 9th chapter in his interview with Junzo Kawada. The book keeps getting better and better as the pages go by, but I considered dropping it entirely multiple times because of the first chapter. If you can ignore the painful nihonjinron, it's worth the read.

[Tudor Mihai · Rating 3 out of 5]

O carte curpinsă de analogiile unui îndrăgostit de această lume.

"Nici o întrebare nu ar putea primi răspuns, căci fiecare atrage după sine altă întrebare, nimic nu posedă o natură proprie, iar pretinsele realități ale lumii sînt trecătoare, ele se succedă și se confundă fără să le putem prinde în plasa unei definiții."

[Ergun Kocabıyık · Rating 3 out of 5]

Benim için Levi-Strauss ile ilgili bulabildiğim her metin çok değerli. Bu kitap da onun 1977-1988 yılları arasında Japonya'ya yaptığı beş seyahat sırasında Japonya'da Japon kültürü hakkındaki izlenimlerini ifade ettiği kısa yazılar ve söyleşilerden oluşuyor.

[Comert Yakarisik · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yazim hatalarindan, anlatim bozukluklarindan dolayi okunmuyor.

[Jerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

The juicy parts of this are pretty amazing (chapters 5, 6 & 9 in particular). However, comparative anthropology is not super exciting in itself.

[Roberto Yoed · Rating 1 out of 5]

A fetishizing view of the Japanese culture.

[Annabella]

Not the most objective and scientifically accurate text for Japanese stuides but definitely a useful and interesting read from an anthropological point of view

[Salem Zarir · Rating 4 out of 5]

لقد أثر عشقي لليابان على تقيمي لهذا الكتاب، لا شك في ذلك. ولا شك أيضا في أن أولئك غير المهتمين باليابان وحضارتها لن يجدوا ضالتهم هنا. لكن، لن يكون هؤلاء مهتمين اساسا في قراءة الكتاب ابتداء.
بجميع الاحوال، ترجمة الكتاب بليغة، ومتقنة الى حد بعيد. كما ان معالجة الكاتب للمقايسة فيما بين الثاقفات رائعة، بالإضافة إلى أن الأسلوب الذي ناقش الفصل الاول فيه ما أسماه " الرقة نحو فناء الأشياء" أشعل في داخلي ذلك الاحساس الذي لم ت��نحني إياه سوا روايات يوكيو ميشيما العظيمة. وأخيرا، فإن استعراض الكتاب لموقف الثقافة اليابانية من الازدواجية، وتجلي هذا الموقف في صناعة الخزف وصناعة الشاي، هو استعراض أقل ما يوصف بالعبقري، لقد تمكن الكاتب بالفعل، من ملامسة التفرد الثاقب للروح اليابانية.

[Lupeng Jin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I strongly understand the feeling the author possessed and displayed in this book to the "small" but great country - Japan. I love it without any reasons seemingly the same as the author. I recommend this book to all Japan-fanciers.

[Rita · Rating 2 out of 5]

A temática está ultrapassada, com poucas correspondências ao Japão actual. Mas a escrita é agradável. Podia ter mais que duas estrelas não fosse a péssima tradução.

[Wilson Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Livro interessante para quem quer compreender um pouco mais sobre o Japão e esse povo misterioso que são os japoneses.

[Aitolkyn]

Strauss

[Thomaz Amancio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Livrinho fofo do velho Clôde. Trata-se de um compilado de palestras e textos breves acerca do Japão, terra que ele amava à distância e visitou algumas vezes. Há basicamente dois tipos de texto: um tipo analisa traços da cultura japonesa, enquanto o outro compara mitos nipônicos com outros de outras partes. Se diferencia e destaca um texto sobre Sengai Gibson, pintor e monge zen contemporâneo de Bashô, que Clôde aproxima de Montaigne por sua visão de mundo.

[Emma Roulette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lévi-Strauss loves Japan, but I think because he doesn't understand it. Everything for him is quaint, minimal, close to nature, like a Hokusai painting. He has this project of capturing the character of the Japanese, locating it in their history, mythology, and art. Everything is a result of the "intrinsic Japanese spirit". But towards the end, he notes that this project is doomed from the start: "I doubt that it is possible to situate any culture objectively relative to all the others... For cultures are by nature incommensurable. All the criteria we could use to characterize one of them come either from it, and are therefore lacking in objectivity, or from a different culture, and are by that very fact invalid."

He has some interesting notes about common motifs that exist in Japanese mythology and American mythology, and how these motifs might have evolved over time. I'd like to know his methodology for collecting these myths. Who does he ask, what does he read? (Especially because his Japanese isn't very good)(I should read his Mythologiques) Anyways, all of this is oriented towards a universalizing project of culture worldwide: there are certain hidden structures that emerge in different forms in every culture, and these structures indicate some Essential Human Nature. This is the limitation of Lévi-Strauss. But the upside of reading him is that now I can't help but feel deeply inspired to visit all the places that he visited, read the Genji and the Heike monogatari, research all the artists that he mentioned, and even learn Japanese!


Kuniyoshi Utagawa, early 1800s