Anthropology Commons^™

Fields Of Individuals And Neoliberal Logics: Japanese Soccer Ideals And The 1990s Economic Crisis, Elise M. Edwards

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

This article explores the relationship between popular representations of soccer and the rise of neoliberal discourse celebrating a new individualism in Japan at the turn of the millennium, a time when the country experienced sharp economic decline and consequent economic restructuring. Examining dominant vocabularies and practices present in coaching discourse, on soccer fields, and in media portrayals of Japanese men’s and women’s professional leagues, the author argues that rather than a coincidental, coeval mirroring between two seemingly unrelated realms—sports and economic transformations—these relationships point to the positioning of soccer over the past 20 years in Japan as a site to …

Dancing The Numinous: Sacred And Spiritual Techniques Of Contemporary American Belly Dancers, Jeana Jorgensen

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

In this paper, I explore how contemporary American practitioners of belly dance (as Middle Eastern dance and its many varieties are often called in the English-speaking world) conceptualize not only the spiritual dimensions of their dance, but also how the very notion of performance affects sacred and spiritual dance practices. Drawing on interviews with this community, I describe the techniques of sacred and spiritual belly dancers, how these dancers theorize performance, and how the conflicts inherent to patriarchal mind-body dualism are resolved in these practices. My purpose here is twofold: to document an emergent dance tradition and to analyze its …

Gender Lessons On The Fields Of Contemporary Japan: The Female Athlete In Coaching Discourses, Elise M. Edwards

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Dr. Edwards' contribution to : Kelly, William W., and Atsuo Sugimoto. 2007. This Sporting Life : Sports and Body Culture in Modern Japan. Yale CEAS occasional publications, v. 1; Yale CEAS occasional publications, v. 1. New Haven, Conn.: Council on East Asian Studies, Yale University.

Whether It’S Coins, Fringe, Or Just Stuff That’S Sparkly': Aesthetics And Utility In A Tribal Fusion Belly Dance Troupe’S Costumes, Jeana Jorgensen

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

As both a scholar and a belly dancer, I believe that belly dance is recognizable on aesthetic grounds. In addition to the movements that belly dancers typically perform—muscle isolations, undulations, graceful hand motions and turns, and lots of hip work—belly dancers wear costumes that are visually identifiable as belly dance costumes. While this description may seem tautological, there are recognizable standards both in the public sphere and among dancers for what constitutes the belly dance image—or images, as belly dance is a diverse phenomenon that encompasses teaching, learning, performing, watching, socializing, and costuming.

Bodies In Motion: Contemplating Work, Leisure, And Late Capitalism In Japanese Fitness Clubs, Elise M. Edwards

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Review article of:

Laura Spielvogel. 2003. Working Out in Japan: Shaping the Female Body in Tokyo Fitness Clubs. Durham and London: Duke University Press.