Day 16: Another Shocking Sign of Time

I used to write in my other Thai blog awhile ago about the demise of Buddhism in Japan and its implication on mindfulness practice and teaching.

This news, however, reminds me again how true Lord Buddha's prediction is of the direction of Buddhism as a religion, not to mention the truth about the Law of Impermanence.

I could perhaps include this in my dissertation when I discuss about Mindfulness in Japan.

Here's the news.

The End of a 1,400-Year-Old Business: "The End of a 1,400-Year-Old Business
What entrepreneurs starting family businesses can learn from the demise of Japanese temple builder Kongo Gumi"

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On another issue, also related to my dissertation, I managed to do a literature review of some sort while having my haircut today! Well, that was after I decided to download Opera Mini Browser on my phone to try and found that my phone's existing browser is actually already better! Anyway, I decided to make some use on its welcome page so I searched for "Literature" on Wikipedia.

And I was happy that I did, because I learned things that I think I could use for my dissertation as follows.

Literature - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LiteraTure • Note created April 21, 2007

Different historical periods have emphasized various characteristics of literature. Early works often had an overt or covert religious or didactic purpose. Moralizing or prescriptive literature stems from such sources. The exotic nature of romance flourished from the Middle Ages onwards, whereas the Age of Reason manufactured nationalistic epics and philosophical tracts.

Interestingly, the authors of Bushido literature I want to study also lived during what was called the Age of Reason in Europe. And they seem to have the same concern of the moral condition of the society and wrote on the same theme!

Now, as to what "genre" they were writing.

Essays

An essay consists of a discussion of a topic from an author's personal point of view, exemplified by works by Francis Bacon or by Charles Lamb.

'Essay' in English derives from the French 'essai', meaning 'attempt'. Thus one can find open-ended, provocative and/or inconclusive essays. The term "essays" first applied to the self-reflective musings of Michel de Montaigne, and even today he has a reputation as the father of this literary form.

Genres related to the essay may include:

• the memoir, telling the story of an author's life from the author's personal point of view
• the epistle: usually a formal, didactic, or elegant letter.

Also interestingly, most, if not all of the Bushido literature I plan to study happens to fall in the same genre also! Yes! I have a feeling I'm on the right track! At first I thought it was an essay. But when I read on, it dawned upon me that ALL of them were written in a memoir style, with a tendency towards being an epistle even! It seems the educated Tokugawa samurai are very sophisticated writer! Their style are very elegant and their choice of words really shows they actually lived up to the standard of Bun and Bu at that time!


At first, I was thinking of "decoding" the mindfulness element as a "theme," in the Bushido literature when I saw what "theme" is being described as.

Themes in literature

Main article: Theme (literature)

Theme is a broad idea in a story, or a message conveyed by a work. This message is usually about life, society or human nature. Themes are usually implied rather than explicitly stated. Deep thematic content is not required in literature; however, some readers would say that all stories inherently project some kind of outlook on life that can be taken as a theme, regardless of whether or not this is the intent of the author. Analysis of changes in dynamic characters can provide insight into a particular theme.

But when I continued to read on the links, I discovered yet something new again!

Motif (literature) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motif_%28literature%29 • Note created April 21, 2007

Motif (literature)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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For other uses, see Motive.

In literature, a motif or motive is a recurring element that has symbolic significance in the story. Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes. The motif can be an idea, an object, a place, or a statement. The green light in The Great Gatsby and the repeated statement, "My father said that the reason for living is getting ready to stay dead," in William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying are examples of motifs. A motif can be something that recurs to develop the theme in a novel: In the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird the children are told never to shoot a mockingbird because mockingbirds do nothing in their life but sing for people. At the end of the novel the theme of senseless killing is re-visited when Mr. Underwood talks of Tom's death.

A motif differs from a theme in that a theme is an idea set forth by a text, where a motif is a recurring element which symbolizes that idea. The motif can also be more like the central idea behind the theme, such as courage or loyalty.

Also known (redundantly) as a recurrent motif.

I guess this is how the word "hidden motif" was derived from?


Well, from what I found out today so far, looks like I have to set a hypothesis that I believe that

• Mindfulness is one of the key motifs in Tokugawa Bushido literature, whether or not it is the intention of the author.
  

I also read some more interesting entries in Wiki on Literary Criticism and Literary Theory. In the latter entry, I discover semiotics, semiology and semiotic literary criticism. The first two reminded me of that professor in The Da Vinci Code, actually, because it is more of a study of signs, symbols and meaning. The latter, however, is more related to the meaning in literature.

Semiotic literary criticism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotic_literary_criticism • Note created April 21, 2007

Semiotic literary criticism

Semiotic literary criticism, also called literary semiotics, is the approach to literary criticism informed by the theory of signs or semiotics. Semiotics, tied closely to the structuralism pioneered by Ferdinand de Saussure, was extremely influential in the development of literary theory out of the formalist approaches of the early twentieth century.

The early forms of literary semiotics grew out of formalist approaches to literature, especially Russian formalism, and structuralist linguistics, especially the Prague school. Notable early semiotic authors included Vladimir Propp, Algirdas Julius Greimas, and Viktor Shklovsky. These critics were concerned with a formal analysis of narrative forms which would resemble a literary mathematics, or at least a literary syntax, as far as possible. They proposed various formal notations for narrative components and transformations and attempted a descriptive taxonomy of existing stories along these lines.

Propp's Morphology of the Folktale (orig. Russian pub. 1928; English trans. 1958) provides an example of the formal and systematic approach. In successive chapters, Propp analyzes the characters, plot events, and other elements of traditional folktales (primarily from Russia and Eastern Europe). For each of these key components he provides a letter designation (with superscripts to designate specific subtypes). He proceeds to analyze individual tales by transposing them into this notation and then to generalize about their structure. For example:

Analysis of a simple, single-move tale of class H-I, of the type: kidnapping of a person.

131. A tsar, three daughters (α). The daughters go walking (β³), overstay in the garden (δ¹). A dragon kidnaps them (A¹). A call for aid (B¹). Quest of three heroes (C↑). Three battles with the dragon (H¹–I¹), rescue of the maidens (K⁴). Return (↓), reward (w°). (Propp 128)

He then gives the complete structure of this story in one line of notation, the analysis complete and ready to be compared systematically with other tales:

αβ³δ¹A¹B¹C↑H¹–I¹K⁴↓w°

Later semiotic approaches to literature have often been less systematic (or, in some special cases such as Roland Barthes's S/Z, they have been so specifically and exhaustively systematic as to render the possibility of a complete literary semiotics doubtful). As structuralist linguistics gave way to a post-structuralist philosophy of language which denied the scientific ambitions of the general theory of signs, semiotic literary criticism became more playful and less systematic in its ambitions. Still, some authors harbor more scientific ambition for their literary schemata than others. Later authors in the semiotic tradition of literary criticism include Tzvetan Todorov, Mikhail Bakhtin, Roland Barthes, Julia Kristeva, Michael Riffaterre, and Umberto Eco.

Mathematic formula! Just what I need for my Bushido Literature's dissertation! Could somebody help me please!!!!???? :-) hee hee hee I just like to make a lot of noise and a big fuzz every time I have to face with anything quantitative, that's all. In fact, I have to admit that the equation looks very sexy to me! If I could only prove that there is that certain hidden "mindfulness motif" that is so consistent one could write formula like that out of those 5-6 books I plan to do content analysis on, I would not hesitate to just go ahead and try to prove that!

Well, I should have gone to bed long time ago because I have two sword classes tomorrow! Therefore, pray for me, World!

Day 13: Met w/ Advisor, Got New Direction

Is it a co-incident that I happened to have an appointment with my chief advisor on Day 13?

Well, depends how you look at it. There are both good news and bad news.

Bad news first. After an hour of a very fruitful discussion, he gave me a new direction again! In other words, I would not be doing what I have been painstakingly putting together during these past few weeks anymore. But that's normal for Ph.D. students. We do change our topics or directions for thousands of times before it sort of comes together.

But it was not so bad as Apollo 13! What I mean is that, my proposal was not completely shot down. We did not really take it apart. My advisor quite liked it, actually. And he also believed and said, perhaps for the first time, that looks like I'm going to make it this time (!). He told me to keep the Bushido part (which is exactly what I had in mind!), and ditch the Budo practice. That could take the role of background support info.

Now comes the big announcement. He wants me to take the SOCIOLOGY OF LITERATURE's approach! Basically, I'm going to do a content analysis of Bushido literature from Tokugawa period! And may be some other literature by samurais during that time. I have the list of books I want to do already! It is in the Table of Content of the Introduction Chapter I gave him today. But may be I have to do some more research on Japanese literature, just in case that question comes up during my defense...

In fact, it's back to square one. Because this is what I originally proposed to JSPS and got my research grant for: looking for mindfulness elements in Bushido literature from Tokugawa period and analyze it in the social context of Tokugawa society in order to understand it better!

So, I think my advisor purposedly let me trying to find my way around for 3 years, reading everything I could relating to sociology, only to find out that my initial hunch was right in the first place! Gosh, what a clever way to teach! He has been very patient for 3 years, watching me growing up academically. Or have I? hmmm...May be not, because I guess I have forgotten what I read in the first year already! Darned!

Anyway, his approach is similar to my sword sensei, though. He waits until he sees that I'm ready. Then he told me what to do next. Sort of. He did not really tell me what to do, just give me more list of books to read (as usual) and told me to write. However, this time I really have to catch up fast with the reading list which I normally was too lazy to do. Big mistake! The list piles up fast, man! And before you know it, you feel you are never going to make it!

So, the first thing I did after coming back home after seeing him was Googling "Sociology of Literature." I groaned soon after the result came up? Why? First, the field was not covered in Wiki. And for me, if it is not in Wiki, then, something must be really, really wrong!

And, boy, was I right! Gosh, how come my advisor always send me on to the most difficult path? Why is that? Consider this:

The sociological interpretation Of literature is not a favorite son of organized social science. Since the emancipation of the study of literature from the rigid research dicta and historically cogent laws of philology, almost everybody with a fair access to reading and writing feels entitled to offer historical, aesthetic, and sociological criticism and generalization. The academic disciplines which have been traditionally charged with the history and analysis of literature have been caught unaware by the impact of mass literature, the best seller, the popular magazine, the comics and the like, and they have maintained an attitude of haughty indifference to the lower depths of imagination in print. A field and a challenge have thus been left open and the sociologist will have to do something about them.

Frankfurt School: On Sociology of Literature by Leo Lowenthal 1948

http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/lowenthal/1948/literature.htm

If I have more time and energy, I'll update some more about my revised proposal. But I have to do the actual revision first!

Like John Lennon once said, you win some, you lose some. You can't really have it all, I guess. But if you ask me how I felt after my first meeting with my chief advisor for the first time in what seems like aeons, I guess it's pretty ok. At least I got the answers I wanted for today. And I could work with more focus, although it seems I'm going to have even more work load than ever before with the new area I have to cover (soc of lit) and also some other books he mentioned today.

Again, the takeaway from this meeting is

• Keep Bushido, drop Budo.

• Drop Leadership Theory, develop own Operational Term for "Mindfulness" to use in Content Analysis.

• Methodology = Content Analysis.

• Content to be Analyzed = Bushido Literature from Tokugawa Period.

• Analytical Framework to make it Soc of Lit instead of just literature review = "Social Millieux" (or should it be Millieure?)

He also mentioned about Great Tradition and Little Tradition. Oh, there are still many more to read and understand. He emphasized the use of language and its symbolic interpretation. He also listened with interest and expressed agreement when I explained the changing meaning of the word "Nen" in Japanese to him. He said I could include that in my dissertation also.

So, what theories are we looking for now? Social exchange theory? Symbolic theory? Gee, I start to sound more and more like the professor in the Davinci Code who interprets the meaning of stuff in history. But that's what I'm about to set to do, to "decode" Bushido, the code of conduct for the legendary Tokugawa Samurai.

There you go, another title for my dissertation. I should start keeping tab of the ever-changing title of my dissertation, actually. May be that would be the last finishing touch of the whole work even! Don't you think?

Ok, as of today, let it be recorded as:

"Bushido Decoded: Unlocking the Mindfulness Elements in
Tokugawa Samurai's Code of Conduct"

Hmm...I like it. Sounds like "Matrix Reloaded" and "Da Vinci Code" reel into one! hee hee hee Well, we'll see if I could really reload it from the past decode it and deliver what this title promises!